Wooglie's Thoughts

Watched these two films on BluRay over the weekend. I enjoyed both of them.

Pandorum is a space horror, set on a space ship sent to colonise another earth-like planet. Two crew members wake up with no memories of their mission or lives and have to save the ship.

13 Assassins is a Japanese Film about 13 samurai who are sent to kill a notorious, evil Lord before he manages to become one of the Shogunate (high ranking Japanese leaders).

Saw this film on Friday and it was brilliant. The story is set during the cold war and centres on George Smiley (player by Gary Oldman), a veteran spy, who is forced out of retirement to find the mole in MI6. This is what some would call a “proper film”, it doesn’t rely on flashy gimmicks, CGI, explosions or car chases, it relies purely on the story and the characters and pulled it off. This was helped by some stunning performances from the cast. Gary Oldman was excellent and you wouldn’t believe this was the same person who played Zorg in The Fifth Element. Without trying to sound old (and failing spectacularly), my guess is some of the younger generation would find this film boring, but I found it riveting. It probably helped that I haven’t read the John le Carré novel the film was based on, but as the film came to it’s climatic ending and I still didn’t know who the mole was, I was on the edge of my seat. Definitely one I’d recommend you go and see.

Saw this film last night. Brilliant. The film centres around a group of kids who accidentally witness a train crash, while filming their own super 8 film. They are then embroiled in the weird events that happen in their town and the air force trying to cover it up. The film is like a cross between ET, Son of Rambow and Stand By Me, but with 2011 special effects. The group of kids are played excellently by a group of child actors largely unknown to me. I was very impressed with the two leads Joel Courtney as Joe and Elle Fanning as Alice, especially Elle Fanning, who managed to pull off the difficult job of acting a character acting. Definitely worth going to see.

Saw this after watching Attack The Block yesterday and it has renewed my hope in the Hollywood Blockbuster. The film is based around Thor being banished to earth and switches between his home planet Asgard and New Mexico, America. One thing to point out at the beginning is that I thought the computer generate Asgard was inspiring. I loved the sweeping vistas and, enormous golden statues and rainbow roads. Chris Hemsworth played Thor well, especially as he came to terms with his position and how the choices he had made had landed him there. Overall another film I’d recommend and can’t wait for the Avengers film next year.

I saw this film yesterday alongside Thor. Thoroughly enjoyed both films, which gives Attack the Block the kudos for providing similar levels of entertainment for approximately £84 million less than than Thor (estimated figures taken from IMDB). Attack the Block is a film about an alien invasion of a south London tower block and the teen gang that are forced to defend it. The cast is generally unknown (to me) apart from Nick Frost as the stoner Ron. All of the young actors bring excellent performances to the film providing ample balance between the comedic musings of the teenagers and their reactions to the alien attacks. The film also manages to get you rooting for the teenagers,  which in itself is an achievement after the rather unflattering opening scene. Definitely one I’d recommend you catch in the cinema, especially as you would be supporting the British film industry.