Wooglie's Thoughts » Films

13 Assassins and Pandorum

Wooglie — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:51:30 +0000

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).

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Wooglie — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 13:22:58 +0000

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.

Super 8

Wooglie — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:08:31 +0000

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.

The Social Network

Wooglie — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 22:55:30 +0000

Just finished watching this film. Very interesting film about the founders of Facebook and especially the inventor Mark Zuckerberg who became the world’s youngest billionaire in 2008. I’m don’t know how accurate the film is, but I believe the events are accurate even if the portrayals aren’t. Jesse Eisenberg does a brilliant job of portraying Mark as a genius, who can be a bit of a jerk and gets some brilliant lines. I’d like to quickly mention the soundtrack, which I really enjoyed. It was written and performed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who also won an Oscar for their efforts. I’m downloading it as I write this. I particularly like their unique take on Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King. I’d definitely recommend you watch this.

Thor

Wooglie — Tue, 17 May 2011 12:49:30 +0000

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.

Attack The Block

Wooglie — Tue, 17 May 2011 12:36:46 +0000

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.

Source Code

Wooglie — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:19:07 +0000

Saw this film last night. It’s directed by the same guy who did Moon, which is a good thing as Moon was brilliant. For some reason I haven’t written about Moon here, but if you haven’t seen it watch it, it’s on DVD. Anyway back to Source Code, the hero wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train, in eight minutes, but he can repeat those eight minutes indefinitely. What follows is a mixture of Groundhog Day style repeating of the same events, mixed in with the soldier’s quest to find out where he is and what’s happening outside of the eight minutes of source code. I can’t go into more detail without spoiling some of the plot, but the interactions between the three main characters are really well done. Definitely one I’d recommend you seeing.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Wooglie — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:13:01 +0000

Saw this great film today and it didn’t disappoint. The story follows Scott and his relationship with Ramona, which takes an unexpected turn when it turns out Scott has to defeat Ramona’s seven evil exes. The film has a wonderful 90s computer game feel to it, that director Edgar Wright (Sean of the Dead and Hott Fuzz) uses to great affect to emphasise parts of the film and the seven fights are as hilarious as they are awesome. The film has a wonderful and varied cast, Scott’s friends and all the evil exes work well Michael Cera, who though often typecast comes across much more confident in this role. I’d definitely recommend you go and see it, especially if you grew up with Amigas or arcade machines.

Inception

Wooglie — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:53:21 +0000

Saw this film on Wednesday and what an awesome film it was. It was so good that we had to change cinemas because the first one had sold out of seats. The film is based around the idea that extractors are able to hack into your dreams and find out your secrets. What follows is various dream sequences that mess with reality and feature loads of amazing special effects. Almost like a cross between the Matrix and Alice in Wonderland. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend you go and see it.

Avengers Lineup

Wooglie — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:47:46 +0000

This could be awesome: