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Looper (DVD)
by pmcds
Films involving time travel usually have the capacity to completely confuse me. Twelve Monkes, for example, is a film I've watched umpteen times and still can't quite get my head around it. Similarly, Inception was a film that spun me out and made me really think about the difference between reality and possibility. Imagine my ... trepidation then, when the stars of each of these two, Bruce Willis and Jospeh Gordon Levitt, combine to play the same person in this film which threatens to loop my mind to madness.
The film wastes no time in getting right to the crux of the content. Levitt plays Joe, a young man who is a Looper, someone who is employed to kill people sent back in time to a parrticular time and place for a simple execution, using a blunderbuss to the head. You see, in the future, when time travel will be invented, disposing of bodies is virtually impossible. So those wishing to do so sending live bodies back in time instead. Mob boss Abe has gone back in time to organise things from the present, and the person repsonsible for deciding who gets sent back and killed from the future, the Rain Maker, sorts things from that end. When Joe's future self gets sent back, a slight hesitation is all it needs for time travel chaos to ensue.
The key thing here for me, and what swung this film in favour or a thumbs up, is in how Levitt plays Joe to make him look like a younger Bruce Willis. Perhaps laziness on the elder actor's part, but the younger one does a phenomenal job of it, and I thought this was the stand out element of the film. As it progresses and small little bits of the plot's minor twists sink into place, the action takes over, but the first part of the film is definitely filled with plot development and a director's attempts to make something complicated relatively simple. I'm not sure what script Rian Johnson had to work with at the start, but the film certainly ends up being one of the more understandable ones of its genre.
Plenty of budget has been sent towards the action scenes in this one, with plenty of effective special effects balanced out with some good acting, and the inclusion of a futuristic telekinesis engrained in certain people. The scenes where this is demonstrated are particularly well done, as are those where the minimal amount of sound is used to great effect. There's a danger that a film like this will drop off and tail towards a disappointing finish, and while the middle parts veered towards doing so a couple of times, there was always something explosive or revealing to snap your attention back in just in time.
I wouldn't say this is a gem of a film, but much like Bruce Willis' films usually are, this is reliable entertainment that gives you most of the explanation without having to make you think. My fears over Twelve Monkeys and Inception were unfounded, and the inevitable bigger twist in the plot, while obvious to a certain extent, is not given any support until needed right towards the end, with other potential twists given chances to keep us honest. Certainly worth a watch even if it's not one to stand up and applaud.
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Attack The Block (DVD)
by SWSt
This was one of those films that divided the SWSt household. When I first saw the trailer for this horror-comedy about aliens landing in a London housing estate, and fighting a pitched battle with some young hoodlums, I said to Mrs SWSt "I'm going to see that"... to which she grumpily replied "You're going on your own ... then." Sadly, for a whole host of reasons, I didn't see it at the cinema, so grabbed it when it was on offer in Tesco for £3.
Attack the Block is not an out and out comedy (in the way that Shaun of the Dead was) nor is it a simple sci-fi film, so don't go in expecting either of those. I'll talk a little bit more about the script shortly, but if you watch it with expectations of either laugh fest or sci-fi adventure, then you'll be sorely disappointing. Whilst the script is based in sci-fi, it has its tongue stuck firmly in its cheek and even manages to make a few political points along the way.
Writer/Director Joe Cornish wisely takes the decision to keep the monsters mostly hidden in the shadows. Not only does this mean that their shortcomings can be hidden, it also means that he can make them appear more sinister and scary than they really are - just like Jaws did. Not that Attack the Block is particularly scary (neither was Jaws), although there are a few mildly unsettling moments and some tension. On the few occasions you do see them, fully the monsters are quite effective (certainly better looking than the laughably bad creations in Dog Soldiers) and their first reveal is actually rather imaginative. It made have been made on a modest budget, but Attack the Block is certainly not let down by its monster.
Oddly,the monsters are not actually the stars of this particular film; and neither are the human actors. That honour goes to the script. By turns it's witty (there are some great one liners), clever ("you can't blame this on drugs, rap music, computer games...) intelligent (taking sci-fi tropes and transposing them to a London housing estate) and plain old fun. It's well-written, full of insightful observations about 21st century attitudes towards youths (particularly black youths) and youth culture, without ever being judgemental. There's even some digs at the hypocrisy of society (one of the gangster characters telling one of the white, non-gangster characters off for swearing too much!) For something so readily dismissed as a piece of disposable entertainment it's actually quite clever.
Where the script works best is in poking gentle fun at some of the staples of the space sci-fi genre. Running around the corridors of spaceships is replaced with running around the corridors of a tower block; where normally you would get panning shots of impressive metallic, futuristic buildings, you have panning shots of London flats. It's clever stuff that shows Cornish's deep love of science fiction and literally brings Alien down to Earth.
From an acting point of view, things are perfectly adequate. None of the faces in the gang are particularly well-known actors, but that helps convince that hey are a group of people considered the dregs of society by many. The main posse are led by the likeable Moses (a charismatic John Boyega) who despite initially being on the wrong side of the law, slowly morphs into something of a hero. Alex Esmail is excellent as fellow gang member Pest, an equally likeable character with a bit of a motor mouth. Less convincing is Jodie Whittaker as Sam. Whittaker is possibly the weakest link in the script and rather bland as an actress. Whilst other gang members contribute some great banter, they get a little bit lost and are not quite as well fleshed out. As such, when they start dying, it's a little tricky to remember who's gone and who is left.
There's a lot of fun to be had from the bickering and banter between the different characters and this is where a lot of the film's enjoyment ultimately derives from. Attack the Block is also helped by a sensible run time (less than 90 minutes) and the fact that it runs along at a cracking pace. Unlike some films (which take far too long to build background and characters), Attack the Block just gets on with it - less than fives minutes into the film, the alien attacks have already started. That said, it does start to run out of steam a little towards the end.
Of course, if you don't like "silly" films or are not a regular viewer of sci-fi, then you will probably not like Attack the Block or get many of the in-jokes. It's also not a film to watch if you are easily offended. Whilst it's not that scary or bloody, there is plenty of "earthy" language and if you don't like swearing, the dialogue will offend your ears.
Attack the Block is not going to win any awards or even be considered in the same breath as other Brit horror comedies like Shaun of the Dead. Having said that, it's a fun and diverting 88 minutes with a script that is actually a lot cleverer than you might initially think.
The DVD of this only costs about £3 now and you really can't complain about that, even if you only ever watch it once.
Basic Information
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Attack the Block
2011
Director: Joe Cornish
Running time: approx. 88 minutes
Certificate: 15
(c) Copyright SWSt 2013
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Prometheus (DVD)
by Dragonfairy
Film Only Review
This was the latest choice from my film subscription, it was chosen mostly by my husband although I fancied it as well, as I quite like sci fi films. We ended up watching this twice as there is a lot going on, and when we first watched it we did not realise it is a prequel to the alien film, although at the ... end we did guess this ( we just thought it was a sci fi film). When we first watched this there was also someone who kept texting my husband, meaning we missed bits. The second time, and with a bit more knowledge about it, it was much easier to take everything in and to see the references to Alien.
The plot
The basic story is based on the space ship Prometheus following an ancient map to our creators home land. Prometheus is a Ridley Scott film though and there is a lot more going on, and a few different themes going on. In common with the Alien films the main character of Prometheus is a strong female character called Elizabeth Shaw (played by Noomi Rapace), she is an archeologist who discovers the map and wants to meet her maker (not in the dying and going to heaven sense, more in the having a chat sense). Her acting in this as the naive archeologist who has to toughen up as things go wrong is very good, and I also enjoyed the acting of the other actors; David, the manipulative robot (played by Michael Fassbender), Meredith Vickers, the cold "boss" (played by Charlize Theron), Janek, the Prometheus captain (played by Idris Elba), Peter Weyland, who is funding the trip (played by Guy Pearce) and Charlie Holloway, Elizabeth's boyfriend and fellow archeologist (played by Logan Marshall-Green). There are also several other characters.
Special effects
No sci fi film would be complete without special effects, and as I expected the ones in Prometheus were superb, starting with a particularly stunning waterfall scene where you see life on earth being created, to the end scenes were they finally meet the "engineers".
Themes
As I have said there is a lot going on in this film, and as well as Aliens, the film also explores several relationships; including the question of who made us. There is one scene after they have arrived on the planet, but haven't yet found the "engineers'", where David the robot asks Charlie what he is looking for from the "engineers", and Charlie replies that he wants to find out why they made us. David then asks why we made him, and Charlie's reply is "because we could", and David says he hopes that we get a better answer as that could be disappointing.
The film also looks at parent and child relationships, as well as the dynamics in a group of people miles from home doing a job.
Did I enjoy it
Yes, the first time I saw it I liked it but was a bit confused as I had missed several of the references, the second time it made much more sense and I really enjoyed it. I feel the acting was good and the special effects very good.
As such I'm giving it 5 stars, for a good special effects film, with a good plot.
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