Doctor Who: Marco Polo

The Roof of the World/The Singing Sands/Five Hundred Eyes/The Wall of Lies/Rider from Shang-Tu/Mighty Kublai Khan/Assassin at Peking

And now for a little history lesson courtesy of Doctor Who. We meet Marco Polo, at the time employed and/or held captive with a constant promise of release and the possibility of return to his home dangled before him like a carrot before a donkey. We also get acquainted with the mighty Kublai Khan.

My memory of this serial (and, indeed, a few serials to follow) is sketchy, but it involves tricking a Chinese emperor and fighting off would-be assassins as well as assisting Mr. Polo in his quest to finally be freed.

What I do remember about this serial (and, indeed a few serials to follow) is that at this point I don't actually care for the show. Yet. I have seen a couple of the new episodes and know that some of the old stuff must be good or at the least watchable. Season 1 is not quite there yet. The First Doctor does not seem at all impressively smart and says "hm" a lot.

But I'll be damned if I don't find the point when everything starts to make sense and I will understand why this show is such a cult phenomenon.

3/10

Long Weekend

Yeah, yeah, I've been gone a while. I thought I made be done with this blog for good but here I am. So, I saw a lot of films since I last reviewed one. I may or may not review any of them. Time will tell. Today I watched Long Weekend and with this I return.

When I say Long Weekend I refer to the 1978 original, of course. As I understand, the 2008 remake is basically a shot-for-shot retelling of the story, so I ask you, "What's the point?".

First up, the tag line/promo line on the movie poster is genius.

Their Crime was against nature...nature found them guilty.

Also, it tells you everything you need to know about the film. Here is a couple that decide to take a break in nature for a long weekend. They appear to be a modern, suburban couple who have obviously hit a road block in their relationship. There is talk of an abortion, the child apparently the result of an affair the wife (Marcia) was/is having. The husband (Peter) also appears to be getting some on the side - the film starts with him parting from a woman that may be his lover.

Not the best premise for a weekend away.

They drive off with their (well, his) dog, Cricket, not the smartest of dogs. Marcia is in a piss-poor mood for most of the drive. This seems to be her default setting. Over the days to come there are some moments of tenderness between the couple, giving us some idea of what they once were. But this is only the backdrop.

To return to the promo from the poster, here are the ways in which they piss off nature:

Peter throws a cigarette out the car window, igniting what could be a wild fire.
Peter hits a kangaroo in the dark.
Marcia steals and later smashes an eagle egg. (A move I found particularly disgusting.)
Marcia applies bug spray everywhere.
Peter kills a dugong. Or not. This dugong is an especially ugly and fascinating beast.
Marcia hits ducklings with the car, splotches of blood and goo all over her windshield.

But this being Australia and horror and all, nature will have her payback.

This is awesome in a very 1970's kind of way.

7/10

The Big Game of Thrones Meltdown (Yet Another One)

Did you miss me? Probably not because nobody is actually reading this. Oh well, such is life. Anyway, I am changing the way I am doing this (again) and will move away from standard reviews. I may do some yet, but this will be much more free form from now on.


Everybody is going mental again about the cruelty of Game of Thrones. Shouldn't we all know better by now. Personally, I chose to take things in stride. And as someone who has actually read the books and was less shocked in the past I find it somewhat thrilling that the writers of the TV show have departed from the books quite significantly. Even playing field, at last!

The biggest shocks of season 5, according to all the feels displayed all over the internet, are Sansa's rape, Stannis sacrificing his daughter to the God of Light and Jon Snow's death by his sworn brothers hands. Half the audience is still hoping he made it, magically. Yeah....no. But hey, people have been known to come back to some kind of life on GoT, so maybe there is hope.

Granted, Sansa got handed a very raw deal. That Ramsay Bolton (formerly Snow) is a real piece of work. (Care for a surprise? Go and watch the English sitcom Vicious. Here, Iwan Rheon (aka Ramsay Bolton) plays the hapless and slightly stupid character Ash, who is about as different from his GoT character as he can possibly be.) And what horrible timing! Just when the poor girl finally makes it to the broken tower to alert Brienne of Tarth that she really needs some saving here, Stannis decides to march on Winterfell.

Which brings us to the second big one. The Red Woman (now there's a character to hate on!) has at long last convinced Stannis to sacrifice little Shireen to the God of Light. They burn the child alive. And her mother, who actually brought that wretched Red Woman into all their lives in the first place, suddenly grows a conscience and wants this to Just! Stop! Stannis, trapped in his stubborn, regal skin shows barely any emotion but his distraught wife cannot live with herself after this.

The result of the sacrificial burning of Shireen is not at all what Stannis or the Red Woman expected. The vision Melisandre had was of burning Bolton banners. A clear sign that Stannis is to be victorious, surely. What happens after the sacrificial burning of his child is, in fact, the polar opposite.

And am I the only that mourns Stannis Baratheon? He was actually one of my favorite characters. Not that I believe him to be right. His belief in the visions of Melisandre were so obviously misguided but he genuinely believed that he was the rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and any god would be on his side.

I am less sorry to see Jon Snow go, however horrified the community may be about this. He was actually one of my least favorite characters (right after the Mother of Dragons, which may have to do with her being portrayed by an only marginally talented actress). All the righteousness and goodness and hair! But, really, he knew nothing. Good riddance.

The Bourne Legacy

For the longest time I thought that in The Bourne Legacy Jeremy Renner simply replaced Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. Not so. This film covers the second generation of special operatives and/or trained assassins.

If I got all this straight, during the Treadstone Project they were called Assets, for the Blackfriar Project they were Outcomes and then there is also a new project (but very hush-hush) called LARX and the operatives are called, well, LARX.

What is covered here is the story of what happened after (or while) the New York Jason Bourne fiasco took place. The ultimate asset (Bourne) and LARX #3 are merely the bookends to the story, however. Here we concentrate on Outcome Aaron Cross. This is the Jeremy Renner role.

Behind the scenes of Blackfriar (up to a point) and LARX (hush!) is Edward Norton, who runs a detail and yells at people around him, one of which is played by Stacy Keach. So, we have established that Stacy Keach is still alive and still working. Has he been in anything else lately?

And yes, this is all a adrenaline rush again. But if you (and I) thought that The Bourne Ultimatum had an impressive cast, well, this one here is even more impressive (see above and add Oscar Isaac as one of the Outcomes, Rachel Weisz as the Damsel in Distress and Zeljko Ivanek as a scientist that goes coo-coo; also they put Corey Stoll in the background and threw him a few lines).

The big chase here is car/motorbike, initially, and then moves to motorbike/motorbike.

A tiny step down from the previous two but still a nail biter.

6/10

The Bourne Ultimatum

At long last, Jason Bourne remembers how he became what he is. Random memories come flooding in on him at the most inopportune times. The conclusion is devastating.

But first, some irritation. We ended part two in New York with a phone call between Bourne and Pamela Lindy. This scene also happens in part three of the saga, but not before going back to Moscow, then London, Madrid and Algiers. Also, there is a short visit in Paris. The payoff this time, however, is that everything will finally make sense.

Contrary to the first two Bourne films, here we not only get a car chase (in New York, no less!) but also a chase on foot an one involving a motorcycle, both in Algiers, when Bourne is running from and then after an assassin (or "asset" as they are called in this universe).

The cast of these films just keeps getting better. This one features not only Joan Allen and Julia Stiles, whom we have both encountered before, but Scott Glenn, Albert Finney, Paddy Considine, Daniel Brühl, David Strathairn (always a welcome sight) and Édgar Ramírez (who, if I am not mistaken, has all of one line despite being on screen a considerable amount of time).

Now, what could the next one possibly have in store for us?

8/10

Non-Stop

This was exciting!

An US air marshal with a whole list of personal issues is getting texts from an unknown fellow passenger requesting a money transfer or every 20 min. someone will get killed. And that is what happens, because everything is made out to frame the air marshal, here played by Liam Neeson (finally not the "I will find you and I will kill you!" guy).

What follows is a guy trying to save himself and the passengers while everyone around him suspects that he is responsible for all of this. His only loyal aid is the woman that sits next to him on the plane, while everyone else is eyeing him suspiciously.

Of course, passengers start taking things into their own hands, trying to overwhelm the air marshal. One person on board is law enforcement himself, working for NYPD, and rallying the troops around him.

In the end, of course, the Liam Neeson character will be redeemed and become the celebrated hero that saved all but a few lives (the ones killed in 20 min. intervals).

Pure entertainment.

7/10

The Bourne Supremacy

Onward with the Jason Bourne story.

This is two years after part one ended. Jason and Marie have put some distance between themselves and whoever is out to kill him or both of them and are now in Goa, India. However, the vengeful arm of the agency or anyone they are connected with reaches there, too. The assassin sent to do away with Bourne and opting to do away with Marie instead turns out to be Russian. We later learn he is Secret Service in Moscow.

Meanwhile, in Berlin, two agents are killed while on a mission and at the crime scene a partial print that matches Jason Bourne's is discovered. This happened under the eye of one Pamela Landy, a woman surprisingly far in the dark for someone that high up on the corporate ladder and calling shots. So, still everyone is after Bourne and Bourne is after everyone that is after him.

Some - but far from all - of the loose ends from part one are tied up. Need to leave some for part three, no. The inevitable car chase this time takes place in Moscow. No glass panes smashed far as I could see.

The point of irritation in this one...no matter how big or small the place, assassins just happen to run into their targets and vice versa. Seriously, Jason Bourne is randomly spotted in Moscow by his nemesis.This is a town of about 11,5 million citizens. Even if you are in the same approximate area the chances of you running into each other would be slim, at best.

Still, not bad for a film wedged in between two others storywise.

7/10

The Towering Inferno

This is the 1970's disaster movie in all its glory.

There is a FIRE in the HIGHEST BUILDING ON EARTH on the night of its first big party way, way up on its top floor. It may all be the fault of the owner's son-in-law, who was responsible for the electric wiring and cut corners because he was expected to work as cheaply as possible. Wouldn't want to upset wife's daddy, since he's got the big bucks and all.

While the attendees of the party are kept in the dark for a bit, because the building is so state of the art and the fire is way down on the 81st floor (initially), surely there is nothing to worry about. Wouldn't want to cause a panic when nothing much may be happening.

Among the ones not blissfully ignorant to the unfolding disaster are the architect and the commander of the fire department, heroically portrayed by professional heroes Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. Also on their side is the security chief, played by O.J. Simpson back in the day when he could still get a job in films.

The fire expands and expands looking magnificent and, yes, people will die, because in the 1970's everything was out to get you.

Of all the disaster movies of the decade, this is the one with all the stars in it. I kind of love it.

7/10

Barefoot

Believe me when I tell you that this remake has nothing on the original. Somehow they managed to suck all the charm out of a lovely story.

The original film is German and bears the same name (Barfuß). It was written and directed by Til Schweiger, who also plays the lead. Yes, you know him from Inglourious Basterds. The barefoot mental patient is played by Johanna Wokalek. The film - as it came out in 2005 - was fine the way it was and did not need an Americanization.

Rather than go into the details of the remake, let me just tell you about my biggest disappointment: Evan Rachel Wood or, rather the character she portrayed here. She plays Daisy as a ditsy blonde, hopping from one embarrassment to the next for - I'm guessing - cheap laughs. The character (of a different name) did get her fair share of laughs in the German film without trying so hard. Whereas then she was mentally ill, here she is just plain stupid, at times even crass - a far cry from the quiet sweetness and innocence that Johanna Wokalek brought to the same role.

This is the kind of film that makes me wish that American audiences finally got over their arrogance about foreign films and learned how to read subtitles. Their lives would be so much richer for it.

Oh so disappointing.

3/10

The Bourne Identity

This was all just a big misunderstanding.

See, the agency is not aware of Jason Bourne's memory loss, so obviously they have to assume that he has gone rouge, after failing his task and all. But poor Jason doesn't remember who he is and all he knows is that he has six passports and a pile of money stacked away and everyone is out to get him. And then, to cover their tracks, his bosses blame him when the original task is finished after all while at the same time hunting Bourne down. Such is the outline.

Not the first time I am watching this film but I am immediately irritated. My problem? How did Jason Bourne get into Switzerland from whatever port he came to land? By regular train and without a passport? You do not get into Switzerland without a passport. For that matter, how does he get out of the country with his employers practically on his heels from the get go?

So, everything Jason Bourne does, he does by instinct. Except ditch Marie. She is a liability from the start, obviously. He should have ditched her before they even made out. His instincts should have told him so. Does he have a conscience? Because of his amnesia? By all accounts he should be ruthless and efficient, no?

Or, better yet, Marie should walk away much sooner than she does. She is on the verge of leaving for half the film anyway. But of course, Bourne needs a ball and chain to hinder him from doing what needs to be done effectively. Otherwise, this would be a different kind of film. Maybe a better film.

On the whole, I liked this better the first time around.

6/10

Berberian Sound Studio

For someone who likes horror films and has some interest in how certain things are actually done in movies, like me, this is the perfect film. Something I also appreciate, is that the film puts a wonderful character actor like Toby Jones in the center of things. The rest of the cast are Italian, which is only right for a story that is set in the world of 1970's Italian Giallo films.

The story is somewhat convoluted and does not make a whole lot of sense at times. However, mostly the story is inconsequential. Or maybe it is supposed to represent Gilderoy going off the rails over the course of the story.

If you expect a film about the sounds created in a studio to spice up the horror on the screen to be actually entertaining on a horror film level, this film is not for you. The pace is slow, the acting is far from flashy (how could it be with Toby Jones playing the lead?), but this is beautifully staged and framed.

Also, vegetables get a lot of screen time. Fresh, hacked to pieces, cooking, rotting in ever growing amounts.

Not for everyone, but definitely for me.

8/10

Lucy

This film works on the premise that a human only uses 10% of his/her brain. While this is not quite accurate it's probably just as well. We don't watch action films for their scientific soundness. My guess would be that most would watch this particular one for Scarlett Johansson. And maybe the shooting and reckless driving and stuff.

Granted, this is fun and all.

However, for me there was one big nuisance. People walk through this film in broad daylight, in crowded areas clearly brandishing guns and nobody reacts in any kind of way to that. Seriously, if you have a bunch of Koreans taking machine guns out of the trunks of big black cars in the middle of Paris, someone would see, no? Sure, it doesn't matter one way or the other for the way the film turns out, but nevertheless it is cause for irritation.

The film is visually cool, the premise is interesting, the shootouts are plentiful and the inclusions of animal scenes to hint at what is about to happen (a mouse right before stepping into a mouse trap representing Lucy right before entering a fateful meeting) are kind of cool, too.

There are some scenes that look like a tribute to Terrence Malick (the locust in Days of Heaven, the dinosaurs in The Tree of Life) and evoke a similar WTF? reaction, but they do make a weird kind of sense in Lucy.

Interesting. Entertaining. Imperfect.

6/10

Thorne: Sleepyhead

British TV crime dramas focusing on the police side of things usually feature a damaged lead character. The damaged one in this is the Thorne in the title. 

Tom Thorne that is, who carries a secret from a previous case, shared with only one other person on the force. In the disappearance of several women in their 20's who later turn up dead or, in one essential case, alive but suffering from locked-in syndrome. Details from the previous case - a man that killed gay boys, then his three daughters - keep popping up and putting additional strain on Thorne and his working relationship with other law enforcement officers.

Obviously, as there is only one other person who knows what Tom did, he looks like he would be involved in the current case. To what extent he actually is a participant in what is happening is not clear (obviously, it will be clear in the end).

As many other British TV dramas, this is very very good. It appears that the best stuff the Brits produce they actually make for TV rather than the big screen. Seriously, they make shows in the quality of Luther, Broken Mirror, Sherlock on a regular basis, while their more popular movies are overly sentimental and drawn out. My opinion only, obviously.

The cast is fantastic, featuring David Morrisey as Tom Thorne (The Walking Dead's Governor), Aidan Gillen (Game of Throne's Littlefinger) and Eddie Marsan (one of Ray Donovan's brothers) as well as many excellent bit players.

There is another Thorne episode, called Scaredycat, soon to be watched by me.

8/10

Interstellar

This is all kinds of awesome. It looks great and it is engrossing. Everything that a sci-fi film should be. And I have absolutely no idea what was actually going on. Also a standard in a sci-fi film.

Lemme see if I can convey what happened - as I understand it.

Cooper used to be an astronaut and is now a corn farmer. The year is sometime in the future. Not sure when. The bookcase corresponds with his daughter Murph, or so she thinks. What or who truly communicates could be anything from a poltergeist (Murph's initial idea), 'them' or maybe Cooper himself from the future. Anyway, the message is either coordinates or the word 'stay' or both. The coordinates lead to NASA, where Cooper runs into his old pal Dr. Brand. He is recruited to go on a mission to find an alternative planet for the people of earth, because the one currently occupied is dying and/or killing them all.

Plan A is to find a planet and take earthlings to that planet. This turns out to have never actually been a viable option. Dr. Brand simply made up this story for people working on the project to keep working on it. Because (presumably) you will work harder to save yourself and your families than all mankind.

Plan B (and this is the one that was always going to be put in action) is to send frozen embryos to whatever livable planet is discovered on the mission and sort of reinvent mankind.

Cooper goes on the mission under false assumptions. So, apparently, does everyone else on the spaceship with him, including Dr. Brand's daughter. Of course, time passes with different speeds depending on where you are in the universe and whether or not you go through a wormhole/black hole. The difference on the other end of the hole relative to time on earth is 1 month = 7 years. This sucks for someone who left behind his two young children, as Cooper has. When he realizes what this could mean, the mission becomes more desperate for him. He needs to complete the task as quickly as possible. But then he learns of Dr. Brand's rouse and several complications along the way make the mission even harder.

While Cooper and his fellow astronauts are off in space, back home on earth life moves on for his children, as well. The son, Tom, takes over the family farm and the daughter, Murph, was always a potential scientist. After she learns of Dr. Brand's story and plans, she tries saving mankind from her end, as well.

And yes, I know how all of this sounds.

I maintain that I barely understand whatever was going on onscreen. But it sure is pretty to look at.

8/10

The Sisterhood of Night

Under normal circumstances I would not be remotely interested in watching a film about a group of high school girls that form a secret club or cult or whatever. The title even has the word sisterhood in it. I mean, come on. (I have yet to see The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.) However, these are not normal circumstances because Kal Penn is in this.

I actually enjoyed this film. Believe me, I am as surprised as you.

The premise is as stated above. A group of high school girls meet in secret to do secret things that nobody not in that group knows nothing about. The girls even quit Facebook. How suspicious is that? But when you are a curious high school girl yourself and excluded from the group but still want to know more about it or at least appear to know something about it you have to simply make things up.

From there, things just spin out of control. Rumors start flying and since the sisterhood is vowed to secrecy, they do not counter any of the accusations about what they are doing out at night in the woods. Then the parents catch half a whiff of something fishy happening and things go from bad to worse.

So, you have this pot full of secrecy, rumors, peer pressure, overly protective parents and the almighty internet in the hands of mindless teenagers. This can only lead to tragedy. And it does. This, however, is not a secret because a voice over tells us so at the very beginning.

Then, when everything comes out and the sisterhood turned out to be nothing at all what everyone thought it was but - rather unexpectedly in today's teenage culture - a net of safety, basically, the film becomes positive and beautiful and forgiving. Kitschy, yes, but it made me happy nonetheless.

7/10

Hitman

There is a lot of shooting in this film. Probably to be expected from a film about Hitman, but still, a lot of shooting.

The hitman in question is one of many, apparently. All of them bald, all of them with a bar code tattooed onto the back of their bald heads. The one whose story we follow was given the number 47 by the people that raised him or, rather, trained him to become what he is. He is very good at what he does. So much so that one of the top Interpol agents is trailing him. And Agent 47 himself becomes a target, four agents come after him at the same time. All four presumably had the same training he did.

Why did he become a target in the first place? That is what he is trying to find out.

When he is sent to assassinate a high profile Russian politician - and seemingly fails - he is set up by whatever agency is behind all this. Then, to save himself and the politician's whore/lover/property, he goes rouge.

Now his fellow agents, Interpol and a Russian agency are all after him. Agent 47, being as good as he is, takes out pretty much everyone that has wronged him (the casualty count is rather high) and, in the end, walks away. Also, he turns out to have a heart.

Very, very entertaining. Also, something to tide me over my current Timothy Olyphant withdrawal that set in as soon as Justified officially ended. (My poor bleeding heart!)

7/10

The Lady from Shanghai

Oh, Michael O'Hara, you should've never taken that job. Your first instincts are usually right. But, damn, that woman blinded you, didn't she?

When seaman Michael agrees to join a rather bizarre boat trip, his fate is pretty much sealed. He starts working for a Mr. Bannister, a lawyer walking in a weird way with the help of two canes. This the day after he meets and saves (or did he?) Mrs. Bannister. The married couple couldn't be more different in the looks department, she gorgeous, he scrawny. Later Mr. Bannister's business partner, one George Grisby, joins the trip.

Everyone of the three have their own agenda, every one of those agenda's includes killing someone and also involves poor Michael O'Hara. George hires him to kill Bannister. Mrs. Bannister apparently wanted George to kill her husband, but in the end it is George that turns up dead with O'Hara framed for the murder. Or, rather, he sort of framed himself by writing out a confession to the murder he agreed to pretend to have committed. Yes, it is all a bit convoluted.

Lucky (or maybe not) for O'Hara, Bannister agrees to defend him in court. The procedures take a turn for the ridiculous when Bannister himself is called to the witness stand and - after being cross-examined by the prosecutor - cross-examines himself, much to the amusement of judge and jury.

In the end, O'Hara runs before a verdict can be announced. Mrs. Bannister runs after him and they end up in a fun house. Before long, Mr. Bannister joins them there and the final showdown, when the truth of what actually happened comes out, takes place in a hall of mirrors.

Twists! Turns! Orson Welles! Rita Hayworth!

7/10

1984

Only recently did I become aware that there was a film version of George Orwell's brilliant novel 1984 before the widely known one from, well, 1984.

This came out in 1956. Other than it being in black and white, it is the same film. Now, my memory of the John Hurt/Richard Burton version is a bit sketchy by now (must watch that again soon) but I don't think that it contained anything that the older version does not provide.

That it also to say that this is rather brilliant, as well. The only significant difference I could notice has not so much to do with the merit of the tale but with the look. The setting may be as bleak as one would expect. What is much, much prettier than should be in my opinion is Julia (here credited as Julia of the Outer Party). This is the classic Hollywood beauty of old, with always perfect blond hair in 1950's style and perfectly made up. Of course, this was made before it became fashionable for any actress worth her salt to play 'ugly'.

But in the end, 2 + 2 = 5. Because Big Brother says so.

8/10

My Amityville Horror

This is the 'true' account of what happened in the house in Amityville, 112 Ocean Ave. The story has been told many times, be it by the family that allegedly experienced the haunted, by Ed and Lorraine Warren or through several horror films based on a true story.

My Amityville Horror focuses on Daniel Lutz, one of the three children in the house with their mother and stepfather, that eventually triggered the legend surrounding the place now. This is mostly a string of first word accounts by Daniel, psychics, psychologists and even Lorraine Warren makes an appearance.

Some of the aspects are really interesting and unsettling in ways that make you question whether or not this could actually have happened. Some comments call the truth of Daniel's recollection into question. How much of it does he really remember and when - if at all - did he fill in the blanks of his memories?

The film does not give a cut and dried answer but really only remains on the truthfulness of Daniel Lutz's words. It is up to anyone themselves to decide. It makes - on purpose or by accident - make Daniel look very unsympathetic. This appears to be a man that is always on the verge of jumping down someone's throat and voices his anger at interviewers (that last scene!).

I feel like that guy did not do himself any favors by agreeing to do this.

If you are interested in reading more about this, I recommend: Amityville Horror: Horror or Hoax? on the abc website.

6/10

The Crazies

I have seen The Crazies before. I have also seen the original version of the film before. The earlier one was made in 1973 and sports all the craziness one would expect from a horror flick made by George A. Romero. The kung fu was probably the most ridiculous bit.

I much prefer the new version, for several reasons. Firstly, there is no kung fu in this. The lead is played by Timothy Olyphant, who is very easy on the eyes. And the new version is set in Iowa. Why they would change the setting from Pennsylvania in the original to Iowa in the remake I do not know.

The disaster is caused by a combination of accident and government involvement. A plane transporting a bio-weapon goes down in a body of water that supplies the county with drinking water. Very unfortunate. Not only does the water now turn the locals into the crazies in the title within a 48 hour incubation period, but the government also tries to contain not only the virus (for lack of a better word) and the information that this ever happened. The latter, of course, means that everyone - healthy or sick - has to be terminated.

The ones walking away are the local sheriff and his pregnant wife, who walk, run and fight they way out of the military controlled (or the lack of it) area. The last thing they see of their former home is a mushroom cloud. But this being the naughties, the will only end up in the next contamination area.

No revelation, to be sure, but good fun for an hour and a half.

6/10

Mission: Impossible III

Okay, I admit, I totally lost the plot. Again.

Who double crosses who? Is everyone involved in shady activities? How do all these characters climb so high within the agency? What the fuck is even going on? And where is the rabbit foot? Or what, even? Wait, are they actually all just wearing one of those nifty masks?

So the nemesis this time around is played by the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman (reminding us again, that he was one of the greatest actors ever and is still sorely missed). Here he is not only just a bad guy, he is a sadistic, vengeful bad guy that swears to not only hurt Ethan, but also his fiance (later wife) for kidnapping him and stealing from him.

The team surrounding Ethan appears to be going rogue now and again. Or maybe it is their boss(es) who are the rogue ones (see above). Anyway, after kicking it of with yet another failed mission, here trying to rescue a fellow agent from somewhere in Berlin, the group's target is Owen Davian (the Hoffman character). By use of their fantastic gadgets, general geniality and one of those nifty masks, they pull off their mission in the Vatican (?), only to be attacked while transporting their prisoner (possibly by their own boss(es), again see above).

Then the wife (formerly fiance) is kidnapped and Ethan is told he has 48 hrs to retrieve and provide Davian with the rabbit foot (whatever that may be). For this, they need to go to Shanghai (because, of course). Again, gadgetry and stuff.

Then we come to the point where I totally lost the plot. Ethan awakes, chained to a chair, sitting opposite his wife (also chained/bound/duct taped to a chair) who has a gun to her head. Davian asks about the rabbit foot (specifically where it is) while counting to ten. Then he shoots her in the head, because Ethan did not speak. But where is the fucking rabbit foot? Did he not just get it in Shanghai? He had something in his hand after some adventurous dangling from buildings. I was sure that was it. What happened to it?

But then Davian didn't shoot the wife at all. Or it was not really the wife. Or Davian wasn't even there to begin with, but one of the bosses was. And then Ethan does find his wife, bound and stuff and in the presence of Davian. Then fighting, shootout, and she has to kill Ethan (to later revive him again because of the implant). Where did she learn to shoot like that? Look, here is boss man again and she shoots him and the rabbit foot falls out of the case he carried. Resuscitation of Ethan only for him to find that she already saved the day without him.

Color me confused, but nonetheless entertained.

5/10

Kingsman: The Secret Service

After getting home from the movie theater just now, the first thing I did was go to imdb.com and checked the rating Kingsman: The Secret Service has there. And just as I remembered, people seem to like it. Why is beyond me.

To me this was all just very underwhelming.

Sure, it is fun to watch Colin Firth, who we all know from playing very sophisticated gentlemen, beat the shit out of a bunch of drunk half-wits in a pub. I love Colin Firth. Who doesn't? Also, I always approve of Michael Caine and Mark Strong. Obviously.

But even though the action sequences are quite impressive (the church massacre, the heads exploding) and you can see that a lot of money went into the production, I found it all just very underwhelming.

I admit, I laughed a few times and joined the choir of Awww whenever JB, the pug (no, not for James Bond or Jason Bourne but for Jack Bauer), was shown. But I was not entertained as much as I hoped I would be.

Mostly, I found the training bits very annoying. Couldn't have cared less about any of the would-be recruits (not even the one I was supposed to care about). And, man, did Samuel L. Jackson's lisp grow old quickly, or what?

Meh! sums it up quite well.

5/10

Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie

This Oscar winning documentary tells the story of Klaus Barbie through many interviews, some very emotional, a few level headed (which carry just as much weight simply by being factual). At a running time of about 4,5 hours this is not only a massive undertaking in itself, but also quite challenging to sit through. Obviously, this is not easy viewing.

The name Barbie itself does not necessarily spring to mind right away when one considers the biggest names in the Nazi organisation. It is telling, that a man known as the Butcher of Lyon easily faded from public memory.

I believe the first time I came across that name when he was the punchline of a joke in the film Rat Race (the Barbie museum turning out something very different than the family expected), which is astounding, really. Especially for someone who grew up in a country that used to be part of the German Reich. Barbie was simply never much of a topic. This was probably in part of his involvement (and protection that comes with that) with the US government.

As this was made during a time when documentaries did not have the aspirations of entertaining people, it may feel a little dated today. Documentaries have for the longest time been made for the sake of information. Sensationalism and bite sized conversation bits are a rather recent developments, I believe. So, sadly, however interesting and important, this will probably remain little seen.

Well worth it, though.

7/10

13 Sins

Imagine you're having a really crappy time, lost your job recently, your fiance is pregnant with your first child, both your father and mentally challenged brother need expensive care and you sit in your car with an annoying fly. Your phone rings and someone offers you $ 1,000,-- to kill said fly. Easy enough, right? Then they offer you more than triple that amount to eat that fly. Wouldn't it be at this point that you decided that this particular game may not be for you?

Yeah. And that is why neither you nor I are the main characters in this film.

We follow a desperate man who has just been through all of the above as he takes on tests, challenges, whatever that get - you guessed it - worse but also earn him higher amounts with each completed task. And of course that ominous voice on the phone has ways to put pressure on him to avoid you from backing out but where is the line that makes him stop?

Well, we can't really say because whenever the poor guy wants to quit, there are ways to make him understand that he simply can't.

Of course, there would be bidders following the game and throwing around big money. Basically, this is like Rat Race, but without the comedy. Which is not necessarily saying that this isn't entertaining. It certainly is.

I guess the message is that desperate people will do desperate things. Probably not too far from the truth.

6/10

Cinemania

Though the subject of this documentary is right down my lane (being someone who watches way too many films, albeit on a very much smaller scale in comparison to the subjects of Cinemania), the execution appears so sloppy that it borders on the annoying.

It is shot with shaky camera (in an attempt at vérité) and does not really focus all that much on cinema itself, or what it actually means to the five people the cameras follow around. There is an awful lot of time dedicated to the logistics of watching as many films as possible in cinemas across New York City, but rarely does it ever touch on what those films are.

I assume that the films are not merely picked because they can be fitted into a day, but there is a reason an individual wants to see certain films. Somehow, we never quite learn what, say, Harvey watches on a particular day. Sure, we know he likes Ginger Rogers and is not a fan of Antonioni, but that is about the extent.

In the end, we see more of New York City, hustling from one cinema to the next on many subways, than we do of actual film. I wish they would have let the five people talk more and make them look less like weirdos.

Somewhat disappointing.

4/10

Houdini

No doubt, this two-part mini series is entertaining.

However, one would have expected something airing on the History Channel to stay a little closer to the truth. Houdini a spy? Pah-lease. For the details of what was constructed out of thin air you may consult Wild About Harry.

The series could also have done with a little more structure. Linear is always nice when it comes to a biography, That way one could also limit the voice overs. Not a fan of voice overs, even in the sexy voice of Adrien Brody.

My biggest issue was probably with the music. The score was made up of mostly heavy metal/industrial type music. I kid you not. This, cool though it may be, seemed really out of place for a story set in the early twentieth century.

The acting, from all involved, was very good. Adrien Brody is brilliant as ever, as was the woman playing his wife Bess (Kristen Connolly, who looked awfully familiar to me, but I cannot place her. Looking at her filmography doesn't help. Cabin in the Woods couldn't possibly have left that much of an impression and I have seen next to nothing else she was in.), and the (invented) assistant Jim was lovable in all his childish adoration of The Great Houdini (he also looked oddly familiar, but that is probably because he reminds me Flea, but what I probably know him from is 8 Mile).

Anyway, if it is entertainment you are looking for, look no further.

If you want to know more about Harry Houdini, go here.

6/10

Mi mefakhed mehaze'ev hara (Big Bad Wolves)

According to Quentin Tarantino this is the best film of the year 2013. Although I would not readily agree, I can see why he likes it. Part of it looks almost like an homage to the Mr. Blonde/cop/ear scene in Reservoir Dogs. I don't think it actually is.

This is one hell of a film, though.

The story starts right in without much of a set up. Four men 'question' a suspect to multiple murders. The whole things gets caught on tape (because everyone has a cell phone) and ends up on the internet. The suspect hast to be released in the aftermath. Not that it does him any good.

The man is a bible studies teacher and suspected of kidnapping, drugging, raping, beheading and killing little girls. With the video and all, the school does not have much choice but to suspend him. And then the father of one of the girls and the police officer that orchestrated the beat down both decide to take justice into their own hands. After one initially knocks the other out to get his hands on the culprit they then join forces to try and extract the information where all the missing heads of the murdered girls are.

This is when it gets really ugly.

The film, for all its brutality (few and far between), is beautifully shot and well acted. What is interesting is that for the longest time, it is not clear whether or not the teacher actually did kill the girls. Don't worry, all will be revealed in the end, but by then it may already be too late.

8/10

Mission: Impossible II

The story line of M:I 2 is of absolutely no importance. It is convoluted and style wins out over substance and in the end Tom Cruise takes out the bad people.

I believe that the only reason the film was made is to have Tom Cruise's majestic hair blowing in the wind. In slow motion, no less. I also believe that that is the only reason Tom Cruise let his hair grow out was so that those slow motion shots could be made. They make up what feel like half of the film, so it was well worth it for him.

Other things blowing in slow motion: women's hair (one woman in particlar), sand, a scarf.

Other majestic things about Tom Cruise in M:I 2: tight outfits, free climbing in Africa (because, of course he does that).

Other comments to be made in favor of the film: ... I got nothing.

3/10

Live Free or Die Hard

Stupid title.

The copy I watched actually announced the film as Die Hard 4.0, which I prefer. It even makes sense, since the film focusses on technology and hackers. But the official title seems to be Live Free or Die Hard. Well, so be it.

John McClane is sent to get a hacker and bring him to the FBI in DC, because there are some serious technology based security issues and several hackers have had their hands in them. Unwittingly, as it turns out. These hackers are now being killed off by the people that originally used their services. McClane saves his package, one Matthew Farrell, from death by explosion and/or multiple gunshot wounds. They will spend the rest of the film running from henchmen sent by the bad guy, one Thomas Gabriel.

Thomas Gabriel is played by Timophy Olyphant, who makes a wonderful baddie, I always thought. My earliest recollection of him is in Scream 2, where he was bad, bordering on insane. Here, he is more of an evil genius, always keeping his composure and cooly disposing of everyone who has done his part in the operation and is no longer of use to him.

An additional complication is thrown into John McClanes path in the form of his daughter, who is upset with daddy right up to the point when he is her only hope of survival. His son we will meet in A Good Day to Die Hard, which is nowhere near as good as any of the other parts.

You know what? I like this film. I am down with turning off my brain and watching Bruce Willis save the day. It's good fun.

7/10

Mission: Impossible

I have watched this film for the second time and I still don't know what the hell is going on. Double agents everywhere you look, everybody is ready to turn on you at the drop of a hat and people are dropping dead left and right. One of them Emilio Estevez, who I had totally forgotten was in this at all. Well, he barely is. Rest in peace.

To make comprehension even more difficult, people that one presumed to be dead resurface later on in the movie. They may or may not be on your side (probably not).

The cast is full of acting heavy weights. And I am not even referring to Tom Cruise here. Kristin Scott Thomas (alas, another agent we lose too early in the game), Jon Voight (good guy? bad guy? alive guy? dead guy?), Emmanuelle Béart, Vanessa Redgrave (I mean, come on), Ving Rhames, Jean Reno (who always makes a film immediately better).

Whenever the blot gets to confusing, there is an explosion to distract the cast and the audience. Or, I think that it the reason. Some of them are caused by exploding gum. James Bond didn't have exploding gum, did he? So, there.

There is also the famous Topkapi-rip-off-scene. If you do not know what I am talking about, that means you have not seen Topkapi, in which case we can never be friends.

Also, a helicopter in a tunnel dragged along by a train. Fighting, danger, gum, explosion! Such fun!

5/10

Nightcrawler

Jake Gyllenhaal is the greatest actor of his generation.

Agreed? Good.

What a despicable weirdo he plays in Nightcrawler. The film makes you question how much of what you are presented on the news is actually real and what has been manipulated for the sake of ratings.

This is not the first film about the exploitation of tragedy by the media. Billy Wilder already tried his hand at this in the brilliant but underrated Ace in the Hole (watch it!). Back then it was a newspaper reporter that milked his story for all that it's worth, Nowadays, as an extra, there is also speed to consider. Everyone has a camera phone and being faster than the rest is pivotal.

But of course, once you have mastered the speed part, your new problem is how to make what you deliver more appealing to the people you are trying to sell your footage to?

Louis "Lou" Bloom, who has an eye for a good scene, stops being content with however a, say, car accident, looks as is. To put the victim(s) in the best light possible (very literally), he simply pulls a bleeding body closer to where it should be for maximum impact. Also, to make bullet holes in a fridge more shocking, he adds the all-important human element, by placing the family photos on the fridge just so before filming the holes.

And it gets only more ethically questionable from there. He starts to not only manipulate the scene of the crime, but orchestrates one himself, waiting with camera out for tragedy to unfold. In the aftermath, when questioned by police about his involvement and his footage, he tells them, us and himself that he only did his job. And he gets away with it.

What an asshole.

8/10

All Good Things

If you need prove that real life is more exciting than fiction, here it is.

This is also the story of Robert Durst. Andrew Jarecki, the documentarian that interviewed Durst for The Jinx, also made this film. Actually, this film is what set everything in motion. Durst was arrogant enough to contact Jarecki and offered to tell his side of the story. As we all know now, this got him in all sorts of trouble. Again.

The film tells a fictionalized account of, mainly but not only, the disappearance of Durst's wife. Here the couple is called David and Katherine Marks and all the other names have been changed, as well. But if you watch The Jinx you can clearly see that this was pretty much all that has been changed.

The film is solid and entertaining, but whereas the incoherent story telling of the latter telling of the events works well enough, here it just feels like it is jerking you in and out of the story. The Galveston events have been thrown in in little chunks, at seemingly random intervals.

Now, I have watched the two versions of events in reversed order and went into viewing All Good Things knowing what happened when and where things headed. This may have helped me with wrapping my head around the narrative. Especially since the murder and subsequent trial in Galveston, TX, were only skimmed over. I feel that this should have gotten more attention, seeing that the trial was what the film was actually anchored in.

The acting, from everyone involved, was very good. I am not usually a fan of Kirsten Dunst, but in here I liked her a lot. Ryan Gosling holds his own in a film that does not rely on his good looks, which is also nice to see (though not as nice as Ryan Gosling at this sexiest *sigh*).

Decent.

6/10

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst

You can't make this stuff up.

The life story of Robert Durst is so weird, it can only be true. This is the account of the man himself, made after the film All Good Things by the same film maker, Andrew Jarecki, which was based on the same events then discussed in The Jinx interviews. Giving those interviews and letting a camera follow him around may well be the worst decision Robert Durst ever made.

The details of the series have been chewed over often enough recently and all the connections to the Serial podcast have already been drawn, so I will not go there. Here are simply my own thoughts on the whole mess.

The Jinx is quite brilliant and very engrossing. Andrew Jarecki also made the exceptional documentary Capturing the Friedmans (if you haven't seen is, please consider this a recommendation to do so). Documentaries have been getting larger audiences in recent years, which is a good things. Life, after all, does tell the best stories.

The final punch of the show, of course, has a weird after taste. The timing of Durst's recent arrest coinciding with the airing of the last episode is curious, and accusations of holding back evidence for the sake of the sucker punch of that scene have flown, but I tend to give the film makers the benefit of a doubt. The inclusion of the team's discussions of the evidence they had in hand (the inciminating letter) even before Robert Durst muttered his confession to himself while wearing a live microphone and their sharing the evidence can be taken as an indicator, that they were acting in good faith.

In conclusion: watch more documentaries. Some of them are well worth your time and long gone are the times when reality banned on film are presented in a way that will bore you to tears.

9/10

Wrong Turn 2: Dead End

This is so disgusting. There is, however, one reason to watch this (well, at least reason enough for me) and that is: Henry Rollins!

The premise is a reality TV show. Because, of course it is. The goal is to be the last man/woman standing after five days in a post apocalyptic world and most of it is scripted. So much for the 'reality' part. The contestants are an assortment of failures: a would-be athletes, 'actresses', an idiot skateboarder named Jonesy and a woman with military education. She, of course, is a tough lesbian. Because cliché. Not that it is going to help her any in the long run.

How this Jonesy character made it for as long as he did is beyond me. He should have been killed off much earlier than he was, for being annoying if not for anything else.

So, the cast and crew get killed and possibly eaten one by one. That is the plot.

The difference to part one is that we get to really take a close look at the deformed killers. We even witness one of them give birth. Also, we see two of them having sex (as if anybody needed to see that).

The baddies do get killed more efficiently here, thanks to a stack of dynamite that Henry Rollins chances upon. Since flying meat and spraying blood is not gross enough, however, the last two remaining get hacked to pieces by a machine that can handily dub as a meat grinder.

Did I say last two? I meant of course the last two to tie up the story nicely, before we get the final horror film classic open end shot of someone (something) giving the deformed newborn a cut-off finger to suck on.

As for Henry Rollins...Henry Rollins is a fucking one man army! Bad ass until the end. His end, that is. So much blood. So much blood.

3/10

Wrong Turn

I have so many questions.

Like, why would you linger in a house that is clearly inhabited by, at the very least, serial killers? Get the hell out of there!

Why don't you hide in the vast woods all around you (for miles and miles and miles) but chose to stay in plain sight for as long as possible?

How does anybody find anyone in those big ass woods? Ever?

Where do I know this Carly from? (The Mentalist. I looked it up.)

How did Desmond Harrington end up in this?

The story is as obvious as can be in a mediocre horror film. Young, attractive people stuck in the middle of the West Virginia woods. They chance upon a cabin (imagine!), where they find a number of very disturbing pieces of body parts, collected in various jars. They hide under beds, in store rooms, etc. and have to fight to keep quiet while witnessing their friend getting cut into pieces by inbred hillbillies. They flee (but not into the woods, mind you) and the villains catch up with them again and again, while the young, attractive people get killed one by one. Jeremy Sisto actually gets a nice Boromir send-off.

The prettiest boy and girl of the bunch eventually make it out alive after killing the baddies repeatedly. These here even exceed the mere standard two lives the bad guys in these types of films usually have.

Yeah, it's bad. Almost in a good way.

Almost.

3/10

Doctor Who: The Edge of Destruction

The Edge of Destruction/The Brink of Disaster

This feels like a filler. In the first part of the two-part serial next to nothing happens. The group comes to after the explosion that shook them at the end of The Daleks. They barely remember who they are at first and they turn on each other - or, it is the Doctor and Susan v. Barbara and Ian.

The Doctor is being his usual pompous self, only now with his had bandaged up because he cracked it open. The doors of the Tardis appear to open by them selves, which is of course impossible (!) and everyone accuses everyone else of tampering with the ship. Not sure how the two teachers would even attempt to do such a thing, considering that they are fairly new to this and don't really know how anything works, but whatever.

And...they magically change costumes. Or they do it off-screen within the matter of minutes.

In the second part, the Doctor wants the teacher off the ship. Little sentimental Susan, of course, goes all sappy and implores him to rethink. Then he suddenly realizes that they are in grave danger and he forgets all about throwing them out. Ian does a lot of fainting.

Eventually, the realize what is wrong with the ship. The Tardis has been trying to warn them of a problem all along (apparently, it is not sophisticated enough to communicate properly). The only problem is some switch and they fix it just before time is running out ("We have 10 minutes to survive!" - "10 minutes? As little as that?" - "Maybe less."). Aaaaaaah!!! So close!

In the end, the Doctor suddenly realizes the worth of the school teachers. Well, one, at least.

The set-up for the next serial is a huge footprint in the snow.

3/10

Doctor Who: The Daleks

The Dead Planet/The Survivors/The Escape/The Ambush/The Expedition/The Ordeal/The Rescue

The Daleks are awesome. They are cute and surprisingly cuddly for evil robots. They attack you with plungers (how great is that?!) and you can fool them by simply hiding inside one and pretend to be one of them.

Serial 2 of Doctor Who establishes the big nemesis of the Doctor(s) for years - decades, even! - to come. And a good thing, too.

The unlikely travel companions have to stick together to overcome a dire situation and save themselves from the evil Daleks. I still don't care for any of them but it's good to see them pull together and set their collective minds to work. Not that their togetherness seems to last very long (they forget they ever knew each other in the very next serial).

Not only do they have to fight off the Daleks, but also radiation (gasp!), thankfully they have been given vials of anti-radiation drugs just outside the Tardis by the Thals (not important). Phew!

This has cliffhangers! Firstly, the Dalek arm reaching out for Barbara (the female school teacher), and in the end AN EXPLOSION!

7/10

Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child

An Unearthly Child/The Cave of Skulls/The Forest of Fear/The Firemaker

I started watching Doctor Who not too long ago (yes, yes, late to the party). Actually, I went all the way back to the very beginning. The reason I finally did succumb to watching it is because I adore Peter Capaldi. Sure, I could've just jumped in with his incarnation of the Doctor, but where is the fun in that.

So, An Unearthly Child it is.

Here's a question: are we supposed to like the First Doctor? Because I really don't. Nor do I care much for his shrieky granddaughter Susan. The school teachers that come along for the ride are sort of bland, too. Not the best start, but this was made in a much more innocent time and the lasted, even though the timing for their first episode couldn't have been worse (aired the day after JFK was killed), so there must have been something out it. I feel that time has not been kind to the early days of the show.

The first adventure jumps all the way back to the days of the cavemen (or a planet with cavemen and their enemies). They really jumped in with both feet and one has to admire that. The story is, you know, strange and not very scary (remember: innocent times).

This all coming from someone that is probably slightly jaded from watching tons of mysteries and horror stories and the like.

Serial 2 then went on to introduce the Daleks! There's something to stick around for!

5/10

The Thing

An alien taking over bodies of living beings (a dog to begin with, whoever is available after) to 'imitate' the host ends up in an American station in Antarctica. Scientifically, this is new and exciting and horrifying. Definitely something the scientists and/or doctor at the station should probably try to figure out. Stat. So....

Let's put the helicopter pilot in charge!

Never mind that he drinks way more than he probably should (and why is there so much alcohol available in the middle of nowhere, anyway?) and doesn't know the difference between Swedes and Norwegians (and, boy, does that joke get old quickly!). He is Kurt Russel so to him we shall listen.

What he has going for him is clearly being the inspiration for Pharrell's ever present hat! Behold!

 

If we chose to overlook the implausibility of the worker bee running the show (and we do chose that) than we can appreciate the dark atmosphere in this and, indeed, many other of John Carpenter's films. Sadly, he seems to have lost his touch as of late, painfully obvious in his latest film, The Ward.

But The Thing was made in his heyday, when the special effects could still gross you out. The dog splits open, for Christ's sake! And a head grows legs and turns into a giant spider thingy. Awesome!

If this film were made today, however, the first Norwegian on the scene might still have been shot (in that all-American Shoot First, Ask Questions Later! attitude) but the main objective of the team of scientists (and the trigger-happy, rough guy pilot, obviously) would be to isolate the dog or anyone suspected of being an imitation to see if this cannot be used in warfare somehow.

So a lot could have been handled better if, I dunno, the guy that figured out that one or more of the team may have been infected/imitated said something to his colleagues about it. They might have had some valuable input. As it happens, when something needs to be told they tell it to the pilot first. Why? Because he is Kurt Russell.

And a good thing too, because he does have a theory on how to test who of their group is/are affected. He knows science and medicine now! He has theories! If this were indeed made today, he probably would have been a scientist because at some point it became okay for them to be tough and sexy and bad-ass. The are also allowed to be women now! Imagine the possiblities.

I don't mean to sound like I didn't like The Thing. It did what it set out to do, which is entertain and gross out.

A friend pointed out this story to me, which tells the story from the thing's perspective.

8/10

The Theory of Everything

Bring your tissues!

If you approach the film without expecting to learn anything about how time works and what theories Prof. Hawking has given the world, you'll be just fine. As romances go, it is rather special. Of course it is. Nothing like a hardship shared with a loved one and the deterioration of a brilliant man, who nonetheless defies the odds given him to make you ball your eyes out.

Eddie Redmayne is brilliant. Oscar-worthy? Absolutely.

My heart goes out the the equally brilliant Michael Keaton in Birdman. He pulled off quite the astonishing feat himself, but (alas!) what chance can he possibly have against someone portraying a real live person of high standing that has a disability to boot. Now that is a role to sink your teeth in and however great you are in any fiction film, you should have picked a different year to be great in.

As for the film itself, well it is quite the kitsch fest and can't hold a candle to some of the Oscar nominated films it is up against, BAFTA for best British film of the year or no (not that The Imitation Game is that much better). But I am sure there is an audience for it. Granted, I'm not it.

My overall score takes into account the sheer greatness of Eddie Redmayne's performance.

6/10

Which brings me to my overview of this year's Oscar crop. At this point I have watched all but one of the best picture nominees and the one missing is American Sniper, which I have currently no interest in watching at all (I may yet, but....). I will probably get to the others in this here blog, eventually, and give a more detailed reasoning. (Yes, I am fully aware of what the rest of the world thinks of Boyhood. I simply believe people are blinded by the effort and time that went into it and want to like it much more than they would if they were to ignore that. And there are other, better films about 'ordinary life' that did not get the attention, because they were made more conventionally.) Anyway, here is my list of favorite to least favorite...

Whiplash
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Birdman
Selma
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Boyhood

See, Boyhood is not a bad film per se, it is just that I liked the others better.

The Dead Zone

Did you miss me? For a while, I wasn't sure whether or not to continue writing this blog. Turns out, I have to record my thoughts on films somewhere. So I am back, if only for my own amusement.

I return with The Dead Zone, a David Cronenberg film based on the book of the same name by Stephen King, which I recently re-read. And I have to say, as films based on King's books go, this is actually pretty good. There have, of course, been some disastrous results (Dreamcatcher comes to mind, also The Shining for reasons that would have to be explained in a separate blog entry and probably will be in the future.

Here we have Johnny Smith (played by Christopher Walken, includes no dancing), who develops psychic abilities. How he comes by this new gift remains a mystery. In the book, there was a childhood incident that started it all and the car accident coma that shook everything loose. In the film, we go straight from a headache on the roller coaster to a bad car accident to a five-year coma.

Apart from the jump right into adulthood, the changes made to the source material are not significant. There are two omissions I do miss, however. Firstly, the Wheel of Fortune episode, that gives a glimpse of Johnny's abilities does not happen in the book. It was exciting to read but not essential for the story line, I guess. Secondly, I would have wanted to see so much more of Johnny's mother. In the book, she is this really interesting Christian nut that makes life very trying for the elder Mr. Smith and Johnny himself, presenting ready explanations for Johnny's waking up from the coma and his new prophetic second sight to pretty much everything else. Alas, here we only meet her for a very short time.

After the two big revelations Johnny has and shares (among several minor ones) - the accident that is to befall his pupil Chris (also adapted from the book story and the book version of Chris) and the unmasking of the serial killer (as dramatic in film as is in book) - we come to the major event that is Greg Stillson, played by the always wonderful Martin Sheen. I will go as far as calling him the best actor of his generation.

To think that this Stillson will go on to become Jed Bartlett, a very different kind of politician altogether!

The question on whether or not one should take action to change a future outcome has been addressed repeatedly (more then once by Stephen King himself) and always seems to boil down to one of two questions.

1. If you could go back in time to kill Hitler, would you do it?
2. If you could go back in time to prevent Kennedy's assassination, would you do it?

Here, Johnny's attempt to kill the potentially evil Stillson does sort of fail but not really. Even though Johnny does not manage to shoot Stillson and dies while trying to, the incident reveals that Stillson is really just a petty coward, using a small child to shield himself from a would-be assassin.

Mission complete.

7/10