Iron Man 3, 2013 - ★★★½

Iron Man 3, 2013 - ★★★½
REVIEWED

"Failure is the fog through which we glimpse triumph."

Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce)

Stark raving hilarious 3rd solo outing for Iron Man. Tony Stark emotionally crippled and prone to anxiety attacks since his recent duty with the Avengers, has to face a nerdy cognitive scientist hell bent on creating hybrid humans to conquer the medical world and take revenge on Stark for failing to acknowledge his genius years earlier.

The basic setup is pretty standard superhero gubbins that we've seen 100s of times before... evil genius intent on making an impact on the world, kidnaps the heroes woman yada yada blah blah. So zero points for originality then, but the 3rd outing still makes for a rewarding experience because Drew Pearce & Shane Black's script plays off these familiar stereotypes so damned well, almost to the point of being more a comedy than all out actioner.

Its gonna be a long time before anyone could attempt to do Tony Stark other than Robert Downey Jr. hes made the role his own. I loved the more anxiety riddled version this time around, was a little less cocksure but still enough super ego. Gwyneth Paltrow was hot as Penny, literary. Don Cheadle was Don Cheadle... again. And Jon Favreau was in disguise as Tony Soprano. While Ben Kingsley was hilarious has hammy kangaroo villain Mandarin. And Guy Pearce putting in another solid performance as Aldrich Killian, though agreeably not the most formidable villain whose ever graced a comic based franchise.

I'll be honest I never enjoyed 'The Avengers' half as much as everyone else seemed to do (could have been a little to do with the over hype), but it just felt like a CGI video game cut scene to me. So it was a treat that 'Iron Man 3' though not the greatest superhero movie ever, was still heaps of fun.

[PRFR]
I loved Starks big bro like interactions with the fatherless kid, plus so many laugh out loud segments from suits malfunctioning to Mandarin's off camera antics.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

The Demolitionist, 1995 - ★★★½

The Demolitionist, 1995 - ★★★½
REVIEWED

"I don't just blow shit up, I create new space"

Explosives Dealer Big Frank (Andre Rosey Brown)

You know the worlds gone to shit when your cities mayor is played by Susan Tyrrell. Robert Kurtzman's The Demolitionist' is a hugely entertaining B-grade action romp, that plagiarises 'Robocop' for all its 1k dollars worth. A futureshock city is torn apart by a criminal gang headed by Maddog (Richard Grieco). When officer Alyssa Lloyd (Nicole Eggert) gets violently slain on duty. The mayor enlists a scientist to bring her back from dead to put an end to the gangs reign.

Its tacky as shit, but such a rewarding and amusing viewing experience. What budget it got is thrown away on ever more massive explosions and guns that fire 10k bullets a pop. The casts a cult movie fans wet dream, its chocked with the likes of Bruce Abbott, Bruce Campbell and Tom Savini, I love Susan Tyrrell she never fails to impress.

[PRFR]
Explosions, boobs, the 3rd rate Snake Plisken, shoot offs, bikes, Grieco body melting and even more explosions. In other words, everything that makes for a rewarding no brainer.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

The Almost Man, 2012 - ★★★½

The Almost Man, 2012 - ★★★½
REVIEWED

"She can uncoil her boobs until they are 10-12 meters long..."

Henrik (Henrik Rafaelsen)

35 year old Norwegian Henrik is bored with the mundanity of modern adult life, so hes refused to fully mature. Only his worlds pushed into crises when his girlfriend Tone tells him shes pregnant.

Martin Lund's debut movie is an odd toned romantic comedy, that actually plays more like a drama and character study of a man child. Henrik Rafaelsen who looks somewhere between 'The It Crowds' Chris O'Dowd and 'League of Gents' Mark Gatiss, plays Henrik so well its easy to believe you're just watching a guys daily life. Likewise Janne Heltberg is hugely likable as his girlfriend Tone, just a shame the nudity in the film was all male. I really liked The Almost Man, its not perfect or entertaining every second, but it definitely comes from an honest place.

[PRFR]
The scene Henrick gets caught pissing on a copy of Peter Pan, which was probably a reference to defacing a character that never grows up.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

The Peanut Butter Solution, 1985 - ★★★½

The Peanut Butter Solution, 1985 - ★★★½
_REVIEWED_

"Its a case of the hair'em scare'em..."

Dr. Epstein (Harry Hill)

Fun, twisted children's fantasy from Canada. Due to shock while in an haunted house a boy named Michael loses his hair. Out of frustraition he ends up using a magical peanut butter potion to help it grow back. Only it causes his hair to grow extremely long and fast. In steps a sinister arts teacher, who uses this to his advantage to make magic paintbrushes.

Though a touch dated feeling, its still very inventive even downright surreal at times. I'd never heard of it until today but I guess it was a real treat to see back on its release in the 80's. Visually it looks pretty much TV quality, in fact a fair few of the cast I'd seen in Degrassi Junior High.

[PRFR]
The wickedly OTT performance of the kidnapping arts teacher/maniacal painter (aren't they all).

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Dark Skies, 2013 - ★★★½

Dark Skies, 2013 - ★★★½
REVIEWED

"The invasion already happened, no one knows when it happened but they're here."

Edwin Pollard (J.K. Simmons)

Damned solid alien abduction science fiction drama that plays almost like a scene for scene remake of Spielberg/Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist only swapping crazy Injun spirits for child curious Grey's. The Barrett family are made prisoners in their own home, after numerous inexplainable occurrences they're forced to the conclusion that an alien presence is interest in one of their children.

Wow I surprisingly really liked this, of course the subjects been done many times before from various X-Files episodes to Communion. But Dark Skies to its credit is one of those rare entries that tackles its implausible subject with integrity. Sure its slightly hampered by budget restraints but thankfully it never sunk to cheap tactics.

[PRFR]
The cool walkie-talkie banter and characters of the two boys (packed with 80's Spielberg charm). And J.K. Simmons as the alien abduction obsessive crank.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Skellig: The Owl Man, 2009 - ★★★½

Skellig: The Owl Man, 2009 - ★★★½
REVIEWED

"Reasons to be cheerful part 3, 1 2 3, some of Buddy Holly, the working folly, the Bolshoi Ballet...."

Dave (John Simm) Dad singing to Ian Dury

Wickedly subdued slice of fantasy dealing with faith and self belief. Michaels parents move to a rundown old house in-order to make room for their impending addition of a new baby sister. Angsty teenager Michael discovers a stranger is living in an old work shed in the garden. At first he assumes the man is merely a junkie seeking shelter, though later he learns the man who seems to have given up on himself isn't what he first appeared.

Charming made for TV family movie based on David Almond's clever children's book. The story is very reminiscent of the classic children's faith testing movies 'Forbidden Games' & 'Whistle Down the Wind' only much more fantasy orientated, its a solid adaptation with great production values. I'm actually shocked how mature SKY Televisions output has become over the last three or four years, gone are the crumbly old days of starsearch. The casts fantastic with Tim Roth, Kelly Macdonald & John Simm, but its young 'Son of Rambow' actor Bill Milner that shines brightest.

[PRFR: Personal Reasons For Remembering]

Quality acting, magical numbered Chinese take aways and dodgy gags about arteritis (Arthur Itus).

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Vampiros lesbos, 1971 - ★★★½

Vampiros lesbos, 1971 - ★★★½
REVIEWED

"Jesus has left the building..."

RIP Jess Franco

Eurosleaze legend Jesús "Jess" Franco (Spanish born 12 May 1930 - April 2, 2013). Made over 150 movies featuring boobs, blood and bad acting, many agreeably shit but hey someone had to deliver the trash.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Between Time and Timbuktu, 1972 - ★★★½

Between Time and Timbuktu, 1972 - ★★★½
REVIEWED

"I think that I'm traveling through my own nightmares... ohh and a few nice dreams too"

Astronaut Stoney Stevenson (William Hickey)

Idiosyncratic and downright surreal made for TV science fiction fantasy & social satire based on various Kurt Vonnegut Jr scribblings. Average American Stoney Stevensen is the not so lucky winner of a fizzy drinks contest that promises to put a man into space. Only the spacecraft Prometheus 5 takes poor Stoney on a voyage of self discovery and to the verge of madness.

The writing and plot is all over the damn place which gives it a very disjointed feel, the only theme that constantly carries from one segment to the next is the anti establishment vibe. The more surreal segments include tropical hippy communes, cryogenic sperm banks hell theres even a little yellow submarine style animated piece thrown in. Age hasn't been so kind but it still makes a great curiosity, sad that modern Television doesn't take risks on material like this anymore.

"I'm not in control of my own destiny... its a miracle I can control my own bladder."

Stoney (William Hickey)

[PRFR: Personal Reasons For Remembering]
The moments Stoney goes crazy, and starts speaking with himself, we even got multiple images of him.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Sightseers, 2012 - ★★★½

Sightseers, 2012 - ★★★½
REVIEWED

"I wouldnt shit on you Chris, not unless you asked me to"

Tina (Alice Lowe)

Right Tina our next stop is... Sightseers is a darkly humourous vacation nightmare. Anal retentive Chris takes his withdrawn mother fixated new girlfriend Tina, on a sightseeing camping trip of the great Northern English countryside. Only theres more under the surface of Chris & Tina's heady world of named caravans, quaint museums and sexy knitted underwear than first meets the eye.

Sightseers is one of those movies that succeeds in being both cringe inducingly bleak and hilarious in equal measures. Its sort of Natural Born Killers meets Carry on Camping, or National Lampoons European Vacation by way of Hammer. In fact outside of BBC's League of Gentlemen I've not seen rural comedy so dark, probably Klovn: The Movie would be closest recent film, thats similar.

"Hes not a person Tina, hes a daily mail reader."

Chris (Steve Oram)

Director Ben Wheatley does a fine job of capturing the mundane world of camping, even managing to throw in some lovely footage of the countryside. The central performances from Steve Oram as Chris and Alice Lowe as Tina are spot on (they also both threw their own material into the mix). Likewise Amy Jump's script, is briming with subtle and not so subtle satire. Highlight for me was the few times Tina came out of her shell, from being a timid knitting & dog loving home girl to being full on smut, with foul mouth rants about using shit for lipstick.... Ohh and that ending was standing ovation worthy, everyone loves an happy ending, right!.

[PRFR: Personal Reasons For Remembering]
Reminded me how fucking dull British caravaning holidays are, use of our national hymn Jerusalem and the ending.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Seven Gates, 1997 - ★★★

Seven Gates, 1997 - ★★★
REVIEWED

"This is a massive mistake, the whole universe is telling me not to be here."

Daryl (Richard Waugh)

Two brothers take a strange winery journey to visit their dad. They have to keep stopping at gates to proceed, so decide its wise to keep changing driver and passenger. On reaching the final gate they find its locked.
The short features amusing surreal dialog between the two characters, as they share stories and learn a little bit more about one and other. The country theme tune by Lonesome Dave's 'Shut up Bitch I'm Talking' is a real gem.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Gates of Heaven, 1978 - ★★★½

Gates of Heaven, 1978 - ★★★½

"Mountains won't grow, but men always will."

Dan Harberts

Viewed as part of my "Beware the Docs of March Marathon 1". Its a well established point of view that most pets are bought to teach ourselves about death, Errol Morris talking head styled documentary runs away with this idea. It focuses on the setting up of a pet cemetery, its closure then relocation of its 450 pets to another area.

"Gates of Heaven" successfully manages to not only cover the owners and workers of the cemetary and the awkwardly odd, usually lonely world of the pet lovers who've lost their little furry friends. But also the reason why humans have the need of pets. Most the memorable insights come from the relocated cemetery owner Calvin Harberts, like his view that the rise in modern pet popularity is down to the introduction of the pill, and do his patrons animals go to heaven. The end is amusing and charming, featuring the grave digger playing his electric guitar looking over the cemetery then to quirky trinkets people had left behind (a nice ploy by Morris, to leave his audience with a smile).

Originally taken from Letterboxd