🎙️ Black Ribbon's Ramble Podcast - COMIC-CON, JAMES BOND, OVERWATCH, TELLTALE GAMES & MORE

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Disney Reportedly in Talks With Fisher's Estate

Its been a difficult few weeks for Star Wars fans who have been rocked by the death of Carrie Fisher. Even more so consider her reportedly large role within the upcoming instalment of the series. Fortunately, the filming for Episode 8 has wrapped and Fisher will be making a posthumous return, but what about the final episode in this trilogy that also considers her role extremely important?

If we take a step back and look at the latest Star Wars adaptation, we can see Disney and Lucasfilms have a potential solution. Peter Cushing or as some may know him, Grand Moff Tarkin was digitally imprinted into Rogue One. Cushing, who died is 1994 was brought back to life by VFX artists and magicians to reprise the iconic role with express permission from his estate. Personally, had I not been told, I wouldn't have known about this until after the release of the film which prompted a lot of controversy. Towards the end of the film we also witnessed a young Princess Leia using the same technology but was far more apparent. 

Its being reported that Disney have already begun talks with Fisher's estate to utilise her image as Princess Leia so they can finish this trilogy. As of what the talks will consist of or if there will be any script/story changes, we can't be sure, but its hoped by many that if they come to an agreement, Leia will be done gracefully, not overdone and her role heavily reduced or ended appropriately. 

Considering the impact of the character on the universe and the film industry, I can see a deal going ahead. Fisher's estate owes a lot to the Leia character and the fans that have supported them the over decades and I feel that justice can be done for both Carrie and Leia to round out her career with respectfully. 

What do you think of this? Would you like to see Fisher maintain her role through CGI? Let us know in the comment section below!

Film Feature: Looking Forward to 2016 in Film

Looking Forward to 2016

Another year always brings with it a heightened sense of hype for the new array of movies that are set to be distributed across out screens over the course of the next twelve months, 52 weeks, so many days, etc. and it is no surprise to say that 2016 is set to be another significant time for the self-proclaimed cinema lovers throughout the country with distinct directorial returns, sequels upon sequels within respective universes and of course, the treasured independent low-key masterpieces that tend to spring up out of nowhere and make stars out of certain hidden newcomers. With this in mind, it's time to examine those films that are set to grace our cinemas over the course of the year and highlight some of my personal favourites that are set to be released throughout 2016.

The opening few months of the year always brings with it the head-scratching, elongated and highly overrated ceremonies that attempt to tell anyone and everyone what indeed have been the finest works of cinema over the course of the past six months or so. Of course, coming from that of a film critic, I can hardly snot my nose at someone's attempt to proclaim whether films are indeed any good or not, but sometimes it does get rather harrowing when facing the prospect of a whole bunch of Oscar contenders within the space of 8 weeks or so. So to begin our year of film, we are treated to a wide range of films inherently laced with Oscar-based catnip, particularly films such as Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl and David O. Russell's Joy, both of which have already had substantial attention drawn in its' general direction. Elsewhere in the Oscar calendar, we have The Revenant, the new film by Oscar winner Alejandro G. Inarritu and a film that has a substantial amount of buzz regarding the performance of Leonardo DiCaprio. Could it finally be the year he wins an Oscar?

Also upon the grapevine is the new Tarantino film, The Hateful Eight, a film so ambiguous in its' nature that Tarantino himself has decided upon himself to release different versions of the film depending on the time and place you see it. Okay Quentin, we get it, you love the old fashioned way of cinema. Please stop becoming an embarrassment in the eyes of a massive fan. Cheers. Not only do the big hitters get the floor but we also have the indie-sensation, Room, which like its' predecessors has also gained substantial awards buzz, as well as Creed, the latest installment in the Rocky series, a series in which many thought it had truly run its' course with Rocky Balboa in 2006 yet continues to flourish under the guise of Fruitvale Station director, Ryan Coogler. Ending the first month of the year is the biographical drama Spotlight, Tom McCarthy's take on the investigation into the widespread reports of child sex abuse cases in the area of Boston featuring a cast of A-Listers including Micheal Keaton, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams. Check it out.

Heading into February and March we have a wide range of distinct and different title heading our way including the new Coen Brothers picture Hail!Caesar! which, from the trailers, looks like a wacky, zany and completely ridiculous comedic venture similar to that of previous Coen pictures such as The Big Lebowski and Burn After Reading. Moving swiftly on we have the return of the mega-buck comic-based movies such as Deadpool and everyone's favourite of the year already (NOT) Batman v Superman, directed by the self-proclaimed auteur of modern amazingness, Zak Snyder, the "genius" who brought us Sucker Punch and Man of Steel. Oh boy, how I am eagerly waiting. March also brings with it two of my own most anticipated pictures in the form of The Witch, a dark and delicious Gothic horror, and Anomalisa, a remarkable piece of animation which looks like something completely radical and is set to continue the rafter of success in the animation category over the past few years or so. 

Into the halfway point of the year we have anticipated sequels in the form of X-Men: Apocalypse, Independence Day 2, and of course, Captain America: Civil War, the continuation of the Marvel universe in which our beloved Captain seemingly has a tiff with Tony Stark and half the Avengers team excluding, of course, Thor, Hulk, and erm anyone else with their own standalone films out soon. How we love the MCU. More importantly, we also have the release of Oliver Stone's Snowden, a biographical drama based on, you guessed it, Edward Snowden, as well as Zowie Bowie's (I mean Duncan Jones of course) Warcraft, maybe the first attempt at making a proper decent movie based on a popular video game. Heading into July, we have the return of Spock and Captain Kirk in Star Trek Beyond whilst we have Paul Feig's "re-imagining" of Ghostbusters featuring (EEK) Melissa McCarthy who somehow has managed to become the hottest thing in comedy since evs, much to my own bemusement. Adding to the shock factor is the upcoming remake of Ben-Hur around the same time. I mean come on guys, why? 

 Finishing off the year, where there are so little confirmed movies at this moment in time, is a rafter of movies such as David Ayer's much anticipated Suicide Squad in August, Patient Zero in September featuring the Eleventh Doctor himself, Matt Smith, whilst October and November bring with it Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange and Eddie Redmayne in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, the newest incarnation of the Harry Potter universe. Finishing off the year in style is the spin-off Star Wars pic, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Godzilla's own, Gareth Edwards, whilst Macbeth's trio of Fassbender, Cotillard and director Justin Kurzel reunite for the hugely anticipated live-action take on Assassins Creed. Surely not two good video game adaptations in the space of a year? 2016, you are spoiling us already. So all in all, a pretty fab year in film is upon us and we should all be rather excited. I am for sure, but the real question is, are you?  

87th Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor

Oscars 2015: Best Supporting Actor

We are now on to the penultimate blog regarding this years Oscars ceremony, the focus of which is  on the "Best Supporting Actor" category, featuring Hulk, Hamlet, J. Jonah Jameson, Tom Hagen and, oddly, Hulk again. In terms of bookies favourite, J. K. Simmons is the best bet to win the gong, and for the second time running, I completely agree with them. His performance as the ferocious Terrence Fletcher in Whiplash, transformed a film with a rather simple and, dare I say it, boring plot, into the most gripping cinematic experience I have witnessed in a long while. Hats off to him. As an added extra, I wouldn't be surprised to see either Edward Norton or Ethan Hawke, pick up the award instead, for their roles in Birdman and Boyhood respectively, highlighting the strength of the nominations in this particular category this year. In terms of overlooked, James Gandolfini for The Drop, and, i'm calling it, Dave Bautista for Guardians of the Galaxy. That's right. Drax the Destroyer. Instead, we have:


Robert Duvall - The Judge
Ethan Hawke - Boyhood
Edward Norton - Birdman
Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher
J. K. Simmons - Whiplash

Next... Best Supporting Actress

A Walk Amoung The Tombstones - QUICKY Review - SPOILERS

Let's be honest, what do we really expect from a Liam Neeson movie? The answer is - Not much, not much at all. We also know his acting range which is rather short. Movies like Luc Besson's 'Taken' demonstrate the exact character archetype and cast-typing that goes through every writers mind when they write a mid-level thriller on a budget. Although the Taken series is very beloved by myself. Mindless, simple and to the point action that is only a little exaggerated by the fact Neeson isn't getting any younger and no emotional ties needed to connect to a rather cool frontman.

Walk Among the Tombstones is something a little different. Evidently the writers have tried to create something very difficult and provoking but in reality have created something extremely basic. With an intention to create something convoluted, the aim is to make it difficult to understand and to leave you dazed as you try to figure the mystery yourself before the puzzle pieces are fitted finally by the story. Any aspect of thriller was drilled out by the fact that there was no mystery. Nothing solid enough to bite into as everything is already being shown. Even in the trailers we know the back story of Neeson's character 'Matt Scudder' before the movie even came out. Other than that, we hear about it towards the end rather than fairly early on if it mattered so little. The reality of Among the Tombstones is that we have a cop drama with very little drama and action. As an unlicensed PI, Scudder is called upon to investigate the rape, black mailing, murder and dismemberment of Kenny Kristo's (Dan Stevens) wife. It soon becomes clear that these guys work over women of particularly dangerous men who are traffickers of illicit drugs. Their connection to the drug industry means that police contact will only end with them in jail. Forced to pay the ransom, the women never return and the money disappears. This time, its caught the attention of Neeson who takes it upon himself to end it, once and for all. See, not very elaborate...

So we've spoken out Neeson's acting degree and its short tether. Now we must look at the rest of the gang. Eric Nelsen plays the character who originally introduces Scudder to Kristo. A troubled artist who left the army with a heroin addiction. With that sort of premise, his character could have been something intricately deep but he just sits in the background with a lit cigarette and little chance to flourish. As for Nelsen's acting, it was rather bland. Simple and easy. Certainly not worthy of an Oscar and not worth loosing any sleep over when you forget his name. Dan Stevens is a man who has only recently popped onto my radar with The Guest released in recent week. With experience in Downton Abbey I feel its safe to say that he is a fairly solid actor. Although his lines weren't great, he is convincing enough to make you feel sympathy for his character but once again he was let down by a rather disappointing script. As for our villains, don't expect anything good. For a pair who have some ghastly scenes that managed to make me recoil into my shell, they had the worst directing ever. There is a significant difference between acting dark and psychotic and just plain nothing. There was nothing remotely scary about this pair, one of which does very little talking and looks like he's continuously got a crowbar wedged up his arse. So bad that I won't even grace their IMDB's on this page. Or that I'm too lazy.

Is it worth a night out to see? Sure...A Wednesday with EE/Orange 2 for 1. A fairly dull movie with little to engage or excite. Action that is practically non-existent with a rather annoying child that appears throughout. 6/10.

Lucy - Quicky Review - Can I really Spoil a Movie With No Plot? - Watch me

Created by the undeveloped mind of Luc Besson, Lucy appears on-screen. Sure, The Taken series is pretty cool. Terribly acted and the most generic storyline known to man repeated 3 times for money rather than filmmaking is the problem with it. Straight off the bat I was ready to tear into this wannabe Limitless. Unimpressed by the fact that they base the whole movie on the myth that we only use 10% of our brains (Busted by our favourite Mythbusters) and if we use higher percentages than that, we gain super powers. Unlocked by a synthetic drug, Scarlett Johansson is now super women. Granted super intelligence and ability to see "data waves" she can manipulate the world around her. Upon unlocking more of her mind, she gains more powers to manipulate the world around her. This whole idea is utter rubbish. I like sci-fi movies and super hero movies but this is ludicrous. It tries too hard to legitimise itself making it incredibly convoluted and the most boring piece of shite I've watched for many years.

There really is no plot to actually write about except that she wonders about using her powers to get the rest of the drugs. If she was so fucking smart, it would have ended 20 minutes sooner and we wouldn't have had to go through one of the worst action scenes I've ever seen. Had the movie actually thought about what it was actually getting at, the outcome could have been plausible and engaging. So with no real story, what is left? How about acting? Yeah, um...

Scarlett, I love you with Marvel as Black Widow but this is just awful. As a character who is supposed to be emotionless (but somehow still has emotions...) your voice is as if you've given up on life (I don't blame you with this script) and its excruciating to listen to. The scenes where you have emotions are so poorly acted, its as if you've never acted a day in your life and combined with the overall fuckery, it truly is a disgrace to watch such a star perform so poorly. I cannot stress this enough, if you're going to use action, it needs to be fun, if you want to create something that uses sci-fi elements and A-list actors, you're going to want to write a decent storyline and make sure they can act it! The acting isn't just down to the main stars, the rest of the crew were just as bad. One particular Korean guy stands as the worst person I've ever seen on screen. You've probably seen him with the rocket launching sliding on his knees like he's on stage with Motley Crue in the 80's - awful hairstyle included. 

I'm not doing a quicky review simply because I have other things to do or that I really cannot be bothered, this time, I'm so shocked as how bad this movie is, I really don't know what to write. I would say that they were simply using both Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson as crowd pleasers but the reality is that this will never work for this movie. I'm surprised it has the rating it does from the critics. To me, this movie wouldn't even stand up as Sci-fi. Its poor quality and overly convoluted direction would turn Syfy pale if it was to ever appear on their channel. I wouldn't bother wasting your money on this and suggest you experience something a lot more fun, perhaps Limitless or a drill bit to your testies. 5/10 for this one - Sorry Scarlett...

Transformers: Age of Extinction - Giant Robot UFC - Review - SPOILERS

Everyone with half a brain knows that Transformers is bound to be a huge hit in cinemas. With Michael Bay at the helm, it makes it that much more special (Lets not talk about the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...). With Shia LeBeouf having his alcohol fuelled plagiarist mid-life crisis, Transformers return has had to make a change. Although its very unlikely that he was planned to feature in this instalment even before his impression of Lohan came too light, it feels empty not seeing the hero that we've followed for so many years. Now we have been lumbered with Mr Mark Wahlberg and it certainly isn't the same. With his new reality TV series and the emotional pallet of a dead skunk it has led me to slowly lose faith in a big player in the movie industry and made me wary of the quality of the film.

Since the Chicago war in which the Autobots annihilated the Decepticons, NEST was shut down, the alliance between Humans and Autobots has ceased with them being granted asylum and a new task force was created to deal with the Decepticon threat and those who are hidden away on Earth. Although, not all is well with this new task force. Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer), CIA and our lead villain has an alliance with a Transformer bounty hunter and Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci) in providing Optimus to the bounty hunter and with his help all the Transformers, including the Autobots too Joyce, dead. Attinger stands to inherit a bomb from the bounty hunter that creates the very material Transformers are built from and a large sum of money from Joyce who is using the mineral to create his version of Transformers but under his control, thus cornering huge markets. Walhberg, who plays Cade Yaeger is simply a bystander who bought a truck which turned out to be Optimus. Some stuff blows up and now him and his 'family' are on the run from this shadow organization with the Autobots.

Now that NEST has thoroughly been pushed out of the picture, it feels as if they just blew away all of the past characters that could still have played a role and really strengthen the cast and add some familiarity to the screen. Lumbered with a new frontman, we have to be able to connect with Wahlberg from the bat and it's just not possible. With the acting range of Steven Seagal's back catalogue, Wahlberg cannot express emotion to any other degree than a blank canvas that shouts a lot. mixed with two young actors whose blockbuster virginity has been popped but have the likeability of women with a tramp-stamp. Paired with the fact that Nicola Peltz plays Tessa Yaeger, the stereotypical American blond popular girl who dates Shane Dyson (Jack Reynor), a 'rally' driver

picked up by Red Bull who is a giant pussy when it comes to anything else. Then we have a few Youtube sensations appearing for small roles. Kassem G and TJ Millar (I know he does other stuff) were horrible. Annoying character, even when they didn't speak. Many of their scenes were useless and are worthless additions to try and make something funny. Another bone to pick is the plug advertisements. Of all things, Beats Pill got its grubby hands on Michael Bay and he bent right over. The scenes were so painfully forced, you could see the souls of the actors die a little inside.

Now apart from all of this, this film is a ton of fun. Lured in by the addition of giant Dinobots, I was sold on the idea from the first trailer release. Although they only appear in the last 30 minutes, the action is heavy enough with plenty of witty moments to lighten up the mood. The range of vehicles was astonishing and seeing the first Transformer with the ability to transform into 3 forms (A Samurai, Bugatti Veyron Vitess and an attack helicopter) was cool too. The huge range of vehicles and Transformers was amazing and their general quality was incredible. At parts it slips and looks like its pasted onto the scene with little shading and the new transform style isn't the nicest looking but the level of work, expertise and dedication that goes into making something on this scale shows the love and passion that everyone had working on this. I would like to put into question the prop designer on a gun used by Mark that is picked up from the armoury of the bounty hunter's ship. With the size of the crew, how is it only the size of a standard issue rifle and shaped like a sword but extremely blunt?

With a few plugs confirming the next Transformers movie, hopefully the cast can be sorted and we get a better group of people to face it. Hopefully Shia will have woken up from whatever moment he is having and will be considered to return as the forerunner to the next title as I don't think I can stand dealing with Mark Wahlberg in a movie that he doesn't fit. The passion and effort that went into making this warrants a lot of more score alongside the fact that the movie is just pure craziness from the get-go. Unadulterated fun with giant dinosaurs and clever little twists and loveable Transformers. What's not to love? 7/10

Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Quicky Review - SPOILERS

I have returned from the dark depths of university deadline season with only a few mental scars. So yeah, expect plenty of content over the next few weeks until I get slapped with another essay and a few exams...

Just a quick shout out, don't go announcing a 3rd film before the 2nd has even released. You ruin it. So Friday we toddled into the cinema to watch possibly one of my favourite members of Marvel go kick some ass. Captain America is easily one of the most relateable characters within the Avengers with the strongest story so far.

Obviously, you would suspect by the title that the movie is about the Winter Soldier. If you've lived under a rock the past few months, it's Steve's (Chris Evans) best friend Bucky (Sebastian Stan), you know, the one who fell off the train in the last one. So it turns out he's not dead and that the movie actually does fuck all with his character. He appears for snippets but in reality he has little change to the outcome of the movie and probably should have called the movie something a little more relevant. Yet, as a story, The Winter Soldier is substantial. Moments, which for any Marvel fans will sit them there in shock. So in reality, Hydra were never defeated. Taking Bucky and wiping his memory and using him as their bitch assassin. Now one of my big pet peeves with the story is that SHIELD sent in Black Widow but told her boyfriend; Hawkeye to do one. Now when it comes to do, Hawkeye is an Avenger and should have been involved!

Compared to other Marvel Avengers, Captain was raised in a war and naturally, you have to accustom yourself to killing some bad people. This has been acknowledged and it truly is brutal. Not smashing them with a hammer or punching them with a massive suit of armour, he's got a fast pace that is (Scarlett Johansson) who pretty much climbs all over assailants and then the brand new Falcon (Anthony Mackie) who kinda just shoots people while flying around with these bomb ass wings. However, I don't think I could ever see Anthony Mackie in a different light after Pain & Gain's titty milk moment.

rarely matched and the shift between him and shield is incredibly fun to watch. Then we have Black Widow (

I'm not going to bore you with talk of the acting or screen play. We all know that Marvel as a production company nail all the special FX and the actors are not just pretty faces. The Winter Soldier probably stands as one of the best single hero Marvel movie in many years. Even with a few moments that are a little unnecessary, the movie flows quickly with extravagant actions scenes which seem more realistic compared to Iron Man. Although Tony Stark and Hawkeye should have made an appearance, Captain America deserves an 8/10.

PS - Quicky review is to get back into the swing of things, plenty more content on the youtube channel or follow me Instagram and Twitter on the right of the page!

Oscars 2014 - Nominations and Predictions!

It's been a full year since my first Oscars post. Another phenomenal year for movies and an incredible selection to choose from once again. In the next few hours, the Oscars will be upon us and we will find out the answer to the Internet's biggest question; "Will Leo win best actor?". Personally, I'm doubtful. This years heavyweights - 12 Years a Slave and Gravity created huge buzz and have a lot in their corner. Down below are the awards I will be paying close attention too and below each topic is my prediction. 

 

Best Visual Effects

• Gravity (Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould)
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds)
• Iron Man 3 (Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash, Dan Sudick)
• The Lone Ranger (Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams, John Frazier)
• Star Trek Into Darkness (Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton)

Prediction - Gravity

Best Film Editing

• American Hustle (Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers, Alan Baumgarten)
• Captain Phillips (Christopher Rouse)
• Dallas Buyers Club (John Mac McMurphy, Martin Pensa)
• Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger)
• 12 Years a Slave (Joe Walker)

Prediction - Gravity

 

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

• Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
• Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
• Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
• Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)
• June Squibb (Nebraska)

Prediction -  Lupita Nyong'o

 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

• Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
• Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
• Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
• Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)
• Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Prediction - Barkhad Abdi

 

Best Actress in a Leading Role

• Amy Adams (American Hustle)
• Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
• Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
• Judi Dench (Philomena)
• Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

Prediction - Sandra Bullock

 

Best Actor in a Leading Role

• Christian Bale (American Hustle)
• Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
• Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
• Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
• Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Prediction - Chiwetel Ejiofor (We are all rooting for you Leo!)

 

Best Directing

• American Hustle (David O. Russell)
• Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)
• Nebraska (Alexander Payne)
• 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen)
• The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)

 Prediction - The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)

 

Best Picture

• American Hustle
• Captain Phillips
• Dallas Buyers Club
• Gravity
• Her
• Nebraska
• Philomena
• 12 Years a Slave
• The Wolf of Wall Street

Prediction - 12 Years a Slave

 

What do you think about my predictions? Leave your ideas below in the comment section!

Top 5 Movies of 2013!

2013 has been one hell of a year. We have yet to hit our first birthday (Feb. 18th) but I've had plenty of time to spend procrastinating, watching films and playing games. Nothing different to my normal lifestyle, apart from the fact that this site gives me a reason to sit up until 3AM.

In no particular order, I have chosen my 5 favourite movies of the year.

1 - Rush
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Rush details the lives of famed racing drivers Nikki Lauda and James Hunt. Ron Howards directions gave this movie an incredible feeling. It is a raw depiction of one of the most dangerous sports with little regulation and safety precaution. Gloriously shot, the colours pop and focus is always drawn perfectly with the right balance of focus in high speed chases. An exciting thrill ride with an intriguing story and a must-see for any F1 fans, both new and old. Full throttle excitement with some strong language and a feels trip for old fans. Rush - Review!

2 - Captain Phillips
Based on the events in 2009 where Somali pirates board the MV Maersk Alabama. The five day ordeal is compressed down quite substantially but still is a brutal watch. Nothing is skimped out and you can really feel the tension oozing off screen. The space that they had to work in is also incredible when you think about it. The work that went into getting the stunning shots is massive and it paid off 100%. With Tom Hanks at the helm, his acting talent shines. Contrasted against Barkhad Abdi, two completely different men bounce off of each other. Abdi's skeletal frame is token to how well they have cast everyone. A roller-coaster ride with one of the best ending scenes I have ever seen. Packed with emotion, superb acting and gorgeous filming, anyone with half a brain will adore. Captain Phillips - Review!



3 - Pacific Rim
Giant monsters, giant robots and a shit ton of action? What's not to love!? Yeah the script and acting are a little wack but no one can say that Pacific Rim is a terrible movie. Visual effects are probably the best I've seen in many years and the choreographed fight scenes are just epic. Plus a bit of Idris Elba never goes a miss. The perfect movie. Nothing to complicated, great fun and a gaggle of laughs. Pacific Rim - Review
 

4 - Only God Forgives
Considered the biggest Marmite film of this year, I felt that this movie was a work of art. Directed by the same guy as Drive, the gruesome violence transcends into this wonderfully excessive environment. Yeah, sure, Ryan Gosling isn't an amazing actor and has the voice of a prepubescent boy who can't convey anger without squeaking away like he lost a game of Call of Duty. All that aside, it is a really meaty and creative piece of work. It's a film that demands a lot from it's audience and if you're in the right mindset, you could really enjoy the neon lights and the twisted story to this dramatic thriller. Only God Forgives - Review

5 - Saving Mr. Banks
Seeing that I only just reviewed this the other day, I was in love with this movie. It's a real feel good movie which feels like it has every bit lovingly worked upon to give it this feeling. The jumping between time periods to elaborate and expand the story is a wonderful addition to document the life and creation of the beloved Mary Poppins. An all around great film with little - if anything wrong with it. Saving Mr. Banks - Review

Riddick - Quicky Review - SPOILERS -

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't done anything in a while. Had a few family problems.

So, yesterday, we went to the release of the brand new Riddick movie. I probably should have watched the previous movies as I can't really remember them that much and I feel that a little more context about the world would help me understand a little more. Otherwise you can drop in without to much worry. Speaking of dropping in, we start of the movie finding Riddick (Vin Diesel) abandoned on a desolate planet and that is really it. We watch him try and survive for the majority of time until until he needs to escape from impending doom of the planets ecological cycle. Eventually some bounty hunters come and try to catch Riddick, the inevitable fighting ensues and we see the obvious outcome. It's simple, right? Too simple for my tastes.

The question is, where to start? The movie didn't really do much for me and didn't infuse me with excitement, it was linear and didn't delve into the complexity of living on a hostile planet, on your own. As it is a franchise, it could have been beneficial to have some sort of character development that showed a chink in Riddick's Armour. You do also sit there predicting the next move, it even hands you these moments on a plate if you were that stupid not to fathom that it would happen.

Visually, the movie is pretty bad. I'm not sure whether it is trying to keep the bad CGI as a trend from the previous ones or that they just turned out poorly. Most of the CGI was vivid, it forced its presence on the screen and screams green screen in many scenes. The set pieces were lacking and looked fake alongside the terrible background CGI which showed the tiny space that they worked with during the filming process. Some of the effects were good, but these were more practical than vast areas and
monsters. Firstly, you have the dog that he trains from a pup and ends up becoming his pet. This animal was well done and at points looked real to the touch but upon his predictable death, it loses it. A scene depicts a man being beheaded - de-brained if you will - and they draw out the shot enough for you to watch the top half of his head slide off into a box and see the innards of his skull. A few other bits are much like this and can cause the whole cinema to yelp in disbelief at how grim certain parts are.

Finally, one of the most imperative parts of this movie is the acting. There is a couple of noticeable faces, obviously Vin Diesel, but you also have WWE's Batista and Jordi Molla. These were the faces that I recognized, even if I did have to Google Batista's character when I got home. Beginning with the main man, you do wonder why he keeps doing this. Then I look back at the other things he has done and realize that he isn't a great actor in general and it's reflected in this piece. He doesn't take me as the big, violent ruler that he is trying to portray. Tom Hardy's abilities and portrayal of Bane would

have been a far more beneficial for such a character. As a person, Vin is a badass and grateful for his fame, but when he talks about his acting, I find it a little unbearable. As I don't watch WWE, Batista is unknown to me, but for the big hulk of a bloke, he played his merc role quite well and fitted his character perfectly. Jordi Molla is an actor I enjoy. He can play the snarling, wicked man with ease. He looks the part of the sly deceitful man and plays the bounty hunter leader brilliantly. A funny man - a little simple at times but brutal in the end. The rest of the players were alright, a little weird at points and the women are comfortable going nude in a 15+ movie.

Overall, I wasn't best pleased with Riddick. I was expecting a lot more violence and action from him, he isn't even armed with his notorious weapons and the story just added up against it. Moments came when I found myself going "Oh, really? Why?" on several occasions and the humour didn't really help those situations. It was a cluster of bad visuals, bad script, terrible plot and lack lustre action. I can't see myself getting this on DVD even if it's 0.01p on Amazon next year. This time around, I find myself agreeing with the general consensus on Rotten Tomato, so my overall score is 5/10.

The Wolverine - Review - SPOILERS

Thrown back into the Marvel world with one of the most notorious and best loved super heroes, we jump in at the dropping of the nuclear bombs on Japan and Logan's dramatic rescue of one of his captures. This is the set-up for the overall plot of the movie.  As it stands, the movie is in both 3D and 2D, but personally I would only stick with the 2D version.

Jumping into the plot, it focuses directly on trying to remove Logan's mutation and passing it on to the soon dying capturer who Logan saved decades ago. Shit hits the fan and a collection of corrupt officials, family combatants and the Yakuza jump in to try and catch Wolverine and Mariko (who is the new love interest). This collection doesn't include a lizard mutant lady with claws as sharp as her mentality and a fashion sense which only includes tight, poorly fitting clothes. Later on in the story, we have a nice big plot twist that is quite unexpected but kind of predictable when you look back on it. So the story is very muddled and is actually a little chaotic, things just happen and there is no detective work that fills the gap. It's a very fast paced and no-nonsense story.

Being that the movie is also in 3D, a lot of shots are very long. For those of you that don't know, to stop motion sickness and headaches, fast paced action sequences have to have longer shots to allow the eyes to focus on the image rather than a constant blurring of colour and sound. Some of these shots slow the pace of action considerably but can bounce back into life in seconds with acrobatics and pure adrenaline filled violence that is well choreographed. As always though, we do have a few
instances in which the action is a little silly, for instance, you would have seen a train sequence in the trailer and this is quite over the top for my liking with a lot of things happening that defy belief.

Within the action scenes, a lot of CGI is used to show the surrounding area or to add to opponents as they flew away or to create the armour that they were wearing. Some of this stood out vividly, the train scenes were filled with it as the colours they were using were to light and raising the light levels
didn't help the actors complexion alongside realism. The final robot samurai was very well done. It was big and shiny that it would reflect the surrounding area and when it fought, it was a hulking, yet agile beast. This suit was the best piece of VFX throughout the whole piece as it looked real!

Hugh Jackman has played Wolverine for many years now and it would be bad to say that he doesn't know the characters story, but at points, he can be a little overzealous with facial expressions which detract from Logan's persona but at least that god awful hairstyle is gone!. His position on the screen can also be very dominating but doesn't create any visual idea that he's a hero. You do have to understand that he has lost some of his power and he is weak, and shock looks genuine but he still has a lot of his power there. As for the rest of the actors, they were all very good and there was a few Asian actors which you would have seen in other movies, many of which they performed well in as well. The only downside for the actors was the script, trying to fill it with proverbs and stories to make it oriental was quite continuous and doesn't work very well when the movie franchise is an American classic.

All that beside, I enjoyed the movie. It took itself a little to seriously, but I like the connection to the Yakuza and the continuous action was fun and required little brain power to enjoy after a busy day. The music was good and the general framing of the images were gorgeous with a blend of city and nature throughout, merging neon with natural rustic colours is always a plus when done right. As a rating, the movie probably deserves a 7/10 and is a good watch for all ages. If you're still concerned, try using EE/Orange Wednesday codes for you and a friend or vice versa!

This is The End - Quicky Review -SPOILERS-

Here we are at the UK release of This Is The End has finally come.

This review here is going to have too be a quicky review for a few reasons.
1 - I didn't find it funny
2 - I don't like James Franco
3 - You can only write so much on a "Comedy"

So, This is the End is the tale of the world ending and a group of actors are fighting to survive in Franco's new mansion. It's premise is extremely simple and the focus is on the friendship between Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen. Except of world domination, it becomes American domination and the only way to survive the world ending apocalypse is to do all the drugs possible.

For a 15, this movie is unbelievably bad. With a general audience which looked to be 13, jokes which were penis related (Which had no style) and then the constant barrage of swearing and sexual references didn't fit their target audience and was just an excuse for them to shout at each other. There was also a certain scene which c**t was used, So blatantly that it crossed the line for me. I can deal with swearing and sex jokes but they have to be done in style rather than a general attack. You will also notice something that niggles at you all the way through. Its never attacked, abused or joked about like everything else. It is Heaven and the Bible. A comedy about world destruction turns into a movie that preaches Christianity, America and how drugs are good.

Now, you would think that with such a huge cast, we would have some brilliant actors. Yet we have very little acting. The swearing and screaming doesn't constitute acting and appears to make the movie a piss about project for all of them. However, all the way through, I did feel that they were all horrible people and if that's what they were trying to portray, then they did it right.

The actors I did enjoy were Channing Tatum for his small cameo and Craig Robinson throughout. Craig seemed to be the most genuine of the bunch and had the funny moments that made you laugh

rather than just a smile.

Visually, a movie with a huge budget for actors, should have a decent sized budget for all of the demons and various other evil dwellers. Yet everything seem blurry or pixilated with little time spent on them. The only good bit of VFX was Satan's representation at the end. As much as it was phallic,
it was clear and looked quite genuine.

Overall, I didn't really like the movie, so it is getting 4/10. It was loud and obnoxious without any good jokes to make me laugh. I can understand jokes that the Ted movie uses, as it is all so silly, done with style and all around abusive to everyone, but when you compare it too this, you see that it is incredibly mediocre and dick jokes can only go so far. One of the reasons that I could stand it was the music used throughout. It was varied and even had a Backstreet Boys cameo at the end that was funny. Alongside some good cinematography, it deserves my ranking, but I find it hard to understand many of the critics that are praising it as the comedy of the year.

Hummingbird / Redemption - Review -SPOILERS-

Redemption, also known as Hummingbird in the US and Crazy Joe in France, is the tale of a man on the run from military courts, who comes across a new opportunity to rebuild his life.

Hummingbird is a gritty, dark and well formed movie. Upon entering the theatre, it was very quiet with very little people in. This got me a little cautious of the advertisings reflection upon the movie - Has the trailer been so bad that no one wants to see if?, Why is there only one showing of this movie on its release day? All of that lark, but if you have had these sorts of thoughts, I highly recommend you go see it!

We open in Afganistan; viewing the area from a UAV air drones camera. Chaos on the ground, screen static and tensions rising between each comm message. Music builds gradually, then suddenly we hear the popping of a rifle, screams from the locals and the identification process. A sudden snap to black and a snappy return of visual movement, we are no in London. Radio chatter still continues as we scour London's city scape. We've seen this sort of style before, a mix of shots from around the world, perhaps a few news stories too but this felt different. One, we end up in the UK. Two, there was a tugging feeling which caught your curiosity.

Then, dropped into a backstreet alley where some local thugs are kicking the homeless' box shelters and threatening them for rent. A brawl breaks out with a seamlessly invisible man (who we all know to be Statham) who is beaten to the ground and runs for the roofs for safety and drops into an empty
apartment. Now he uses this opportunity to reinvent himself. Involving himself with the Yakuza and a new love interest, Crazy Joe is forced to earn a living, fight PTSD and get the devout Christians love.

The development of the story falls into place quite easily but the twist on the generic disgraced soldier is what helps the story distinguish itself from the rest. A military man, killing militants with brutal means, runs from his military tribunal and ends on the streets for many years. Too come across a new start but tie loose ends before leaving is very different from the norm, especially with the ending which turns out to be a vital part in the plot.

In forms of cinematography, the movie was beautiful. With the perfect amount of lighting there was enough to compliment the gritty story with a variety of neon colours from rough clubs and the dark end of town. Angles and smooth camera movements that flow effortlessly with the focal points were unnoticeable, but also kept the focus on the mark. The framing was much the same. All of this mixed together turned a dingy alley into something far more menacing. Following this, you have the visuals. Special effects were good, apart from one incident at the end which was poorly edited and didn't look right on the background.

The characters and acting were good but some were a little too much. The main villain looked to be straight out of a Bond movie and his short time on screen didn't really fill you with hatred for the

character. Stathams performance was probably one of his best, not award winning but fairly believable and his fight scenes are executed in style and grace without being over the top *Cough* Transporter *Cough*. The rest of the cast were alright and didn't push anything to far in your face with the short amount of time they had on screen.

It's now 1:30AM and I think I should go to bed, so to end it, I shall call this movie a 7.5/10. It's story is a generic revenge thriller but with little depth to everything else that happens during Crazy Joe's reign and little exploratory investigations into the workings of his mind or the main villain. Plus, his almost instant rise into the Chinese Yakuza. A must see for all Statham fans and a must see for pretty much everyone else whose up for a bit of action with gritty details.

The Counselor Teaser Trailer!

Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz, Natalie Dormer and Penélope Cruz all appearing in a 1 minute teaser trailer for The Counselor by Ridley Scott looks to be a film to watch out for. When a lawyer gets himself involved with drug trafficking, then shit hits the fan and they are stuck to face the consequence. 

Without looking and IMDB, I can only presume that Brad Pitt is the main lead for the film, due to the fact he is an A list actor who can draw quite a crowd. Evidently, he finished filming for World War Z and jumped straight onto this project, which looks too be one of the best movies this year. With a huge cast, I hope it works out to be up for some awards. yet as this is a teaser, we have to consider that it has to reveal little but enough to create goosebumps!

World War Z Quicky Review! -Spoilers-

I shall let you know now, I have no idea how to review this movie. My irrational phobia of zombies made this movie had to concentrate and the fact that I watch very little horror/thriller movies, gives me little, if any understanding of the genre and style it works in. But I shall give it a stab!

As you could probably have guessed, World War Z is based on a book which depicts the rise of an infection that mutates humans and creates the walking dead. It's a simple plot, but the focus is more on the tension that can be built, alongside acting. The basic premise is the simple part.

Attention falls primarily on top of the tension builders. For instance, a scene - which is eerily reminiscent of Dead Island's hotel scenes - we are working through the tight spaces of a lab with little weaponry and at a crawl to avoid zombie attention. Music builds at the right points, silently enough that it fills the scene without being obvious and every environmental sound pricks your hair up. The perfect mix of music and scenery made the whole cinema quiet, my sweaty fists crushing my girlfriends hand as I squeeze uncontrollably.

However, there is instances where tension is diminished and can be somewhat laughable. The
dormant zombies do very little apart from repeating a movement continuously. As ominous as this sounds, a zombie bumping it's head against a wall, just looks stupid. It doesn't create a sense of mindless killer. We also come face to face with one which isn't biting but acts like a hamster or rabbit which it munches on a carrot. The performance was laugh worthy, due to it being way over the top but the make-up was unbelievably realistic.

On the topic of performance, Brad Pitt's was good; not amazing, but good. For the majority of the movie, the camera is focused on him and what he is looking at. We do also get a few variations from Brad, but we don't connect to them very well as the have no character development and very little line. The characters that do stand out are the adopted son, and the family. The adopted son, comes out of nowhere and does nothing, the youngest daughter screams continuously while the eldest chooses to ignore instructions and almost get themselves killed and finally the mother. I swear down, this women just wants her husband dead and is extremely stupid! (You will see why, if not comment and I will tell you! xD)

On a final note, the cinematography is great, framing on certain scenes cut out things that are quite sick which helps keep a low age rating, but also factors out the excessive Tarrintino blood. We also have little snapshots of what Pitt is observing, all of which are clues for him to piece together - or the audience if you can work it out before him. Another scene is one of the first zombie encounters in Korea. The lighting of the plane, mixed with heavy rain and the screeches of ensuing zombies makes the scene incredibly vivid and the whole area sticks in your mind as one of the best sets I have seen.

So, I feel that my overall rating will have to be 7/10. Its smart use of the camera and the thrill-ride of a journey which had my heart pounding and my girlfriends hand throbbing were all great bonuses, but you do feel that certain characters are an annoyance, zombies behaviour is entertaining and the story was a little sparse.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug TRAILER

Here we are, welcomed yesterday with the new trailer for the long awaited 2nd instalment in the trilogy. Finally we make it to the dwarven kingdom and awaken Smaug, how it ends it debatable but its nice to have the group back. Personally, I've not read the books, only little snippets and bits from games. Yet, I never remember Legolas returning to aid, but as my favourite character from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it's great to see him back! Just looking at the trailer we begin to see that the action has stepped up and looks to be an exciting thrill-ride. Now, we have to wait for December before we get this, but seeing that the whole series was shot in one period, you would assume that it could come out earlier and we wouldn't have to wait a year for each film!

Enjoy!

Hangover Part 3 Review -SPOILERS-

Hangover, part 3was one of my hotly anticipated films finally came out today. I was unlucky enough to miss out on the first two and resorted to the original DVD format and I'm extremely glad I didn't let Hangover sit on the shelf until the last minute. I did however miss out Due Date which ties in within the movie for a short scene but it is nothing that is to drastic.

Surprisingly, this movie doesn't begin with the obligatory piss up that ends up with the Wolf pack running around to find Doug and explain the drug fuelled night. This one focuses on the capturing of Chow; the cocaine loving psychopath. The final instalment in the Hangover trilogy is one that wraps up the connection to Chow and why he kept appearing throughout the series and his criminal activities. To fuel his lifestyle and addiction, Chow robs another criminal boss named "Marshall" of several million dollars worth of gold bars. After spending fortunes and ending up in a Bangkok prison after part 2, he escapes and becomes an international villain on the run from both the police and Marshall. Marshall then captures the Wolf pack and forces them to hunt down Chow and capture him or Doug dies.

In terms of story, you can see that it has taken a different turn and has become a little more serious. Although, in the ending credits, we are greeted with the day after a heavy night out to find everyone hanging and Stu with a new rack (I will let you figure that one out). I certainly enjoyed the reversal of the story and the introduction of a truly deadly force that will and does kill and the introduction of a new love interest. The danger was amped up and the twists within are very precise and quick. As I mentioned prior, the story blends with the past movies and is great at entwining old characters and stories to close the final movie. However, at the end we do see the possibility that the franchise has been left at a point that could be ridden upon if money gets tight for Legendary studios and Green Hat.

"I'm sorry, I can't quite hear you over the noise of my good looks and money"

The comedy throughout was a constant and didn't wear thin. Yet it wasn't rip roaring and I wasn't gasping for air or tearing at the excessively stupid antics. The jokes were written well, flowed well without interruption and were executed brilliantly. The collection of actors could hold themselves without losing form. The examples of this are Zach Galifianakis and Melissa McCarthy who can hold a room with a simple longing gaze, their ability to ignore their surroundings and create an unbelievably awkward situation without actually saying anything is flawless. Bradley Cooper also fills his role quite well, managing to retain the badass persona to life that made him so popular with the crowds (his looks also help). 

The film was also shot brilliantly. I enjoyed the contrast and the lighting that rolled throughout the movie. Close up shots filled space but felt natural in their surroundings. The landscape shots where expansive and incredibly strong. Jumping from bright desert wasteland of Mexico too the luminescent city of Las Vegas was gorgeous. Colours bounced around of the screen and seeing the iconic city at a height like that at night is something that only some have done. It is the stereotypical way that we perceive Vegas to be.

Overall, the movie was great fun. It's got plenty of laughs and has some brilliant actors to back it up. I am rating this movie as a 7.5/10, simply because I wanted to harder hitting jokes and a little bit more in the story franchise. I felt myself wanting a little extra from the movie but it is still an enjoyable film.

Iron Man 3 REVIEW -SPOILERS-

We here in the UK have one of the biggest releases of 2013, before the USA!

Right!, to sum the movie up. It is pretty damn epic!
Rumoured to be the last Iron Man in the series, it was one hell of a send off and I'm sure we shall be seeing him in the upcoming Avengers movie in 2014.

Let's get to it!

Story wise, we follow Tony in the aftermath of the New York alien invasion. After developing anxiety, he cannot sleep soundly and locks himself into his garage while he works on the suit. Although it's not the dark and gritty plot that I was prepared for, the removal of the suit and the battered Stark in a far flung state forces Tony to investigate a series of bombings and rebuild the remains of his busted suit to kick some ass! Upon crash-landing in Tennessee, we are introduced to a young boy who supports Tony in the rebuild of Iron Man. The kid is quite annoying, yet the connection between the two of them is comical and very entertaining with the banter.
A plot twist occurs, which is jaw dropping and funny at the same time (I won't be ruining that for you). This was brilliantly executed and you were never given a hint towards this. You do however find that the fight just got 10X harder against an army of bad guys.

But enough on the basics. The fight scenes were fluid and brilliantly violent. Iron Man has certainly grown up since the second instalment, with the actual deaths of people on screen and the extent of his rage. The final fight sequence is just amazing, with the arrival of all of Stark's work (from all the tinkering away with no sleep), the huge collecting of suits is just brilliant and gives you goosebumps when you can feel the ensuing chaos that they will bring! Favreau has a nice little role, but his true place is in the directors chair. His distinct style makes certain scenes eerily reminiscent of Cowboys and Aliens, and his ability to capture the fight scenes are great. Favreau has also continued to capture the witty side of Stark and has made sure that the film doesn't take itself too seriously. It's also great to see that the Iron Patriot plays a pivotal role as well but doesn't get into the thick of it all, yet the general who pilots it goes around kicking ass with his commando skills!

The acting throughout is top class, which you would expect from A list celebs and Paltrow's far more prominent role in the story and outcome really helps to make her stand out amongst the crowd. Robert Downey Jr. is once again on form. It's hard to tell whether he is actually acting, simple due to the fact that he is like that!

Visual effects are perfect, fire and explosions are lifelike and the famous interfaces that fill the room are wicked! All of this tech makes me want to become rich enough to afford something like that! The sound is also very good and clear, but when you have an almost indefinite supply of money from Marvel and Audi, you would expect them to be perfect. However, you don't really hear much physical music. I felt myself blurring out the music and focusing primarily on the action.

Theres not a huge amount to write about the film, it's great fun and I recommend it to everyone. It's a nice length, so you get plenty for your money. With effects and sounds that are so clear, you have to see them in cinema to get the true aspect of the film and truly enjoy it. Small screens and cheap speakers won't do any good for this! Overall, this movie is getting an 8/10. It's fun, not taking itself seriously and is full of action. A great watch!


Sorry for the short review but be sure to post some comments on what you thought of the movie and your rating!
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