Film Flare

A brief pause

Evening there folks and lady folks,

 

No Film Flare tonight, or until at least the 5th of March. Sorry.

It's because I'm going here:

To work on my tan and to destroy the One Ring.

 

See you laters, I'm sure, with tales aplenty from my travels.

Samwise says 'Hi', by the way.

 

 

Looking forward to 2013 (July - Dec)

Hey again.

After the last entry highlighted a TINY amount of films coming out which grab my interest, it makes sense to finish the job and to do the same thing for the latter half of the year.

However, as you will soon be able to deduce yourselves, the second half of the year is fairly guilty of sequel-itis. 

 

Despicable Me 2 (released 28/06/2013)

The first Despicable Me was a charming and funny animated film that almost completely bypassed my usual cynicism. Gru's minions are hilarious and whilst the focus of the advertising of the second film almost exclusively focuses on them, here's hoping the film will be another light hearted and amusing film.

 

The Wolverine (released 26/07/2013)

Hugh Jackson is always at the very least watchable but the X-Men Origins film dealing with Wolverine was underwhelming. It is reassuring to see a rather drastic change of locale as the film takes the character to Japan. I'm hoping there'll also be some cool Samurai/Ronin themes going on as well.

 

The World's End (released 14/08/2013)

The long awaiting end to the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, Edgar Wright's previous two entries, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz were both amazing. Featuring both Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, there are high hopes that this film will be as of as high quality as the previous two films. Doing for science fiction what SotD did for zombies and Hot Fuzz did for action.

 

Riddick (released 06/09/2013)

Vin Diesel's other franchise has him playing shiny lensed gravel voiced prisoner, Richard B. Riddick. Once again, after Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick, David Twohy is writing and directing and hopefully tightened up a bit after the good ideas but scattered implementation of the second film.

 

Elysium (released 20/09/2013) 

Neil Blomkamp's second feature film after the fantastic District 9 is another science fiction piece starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and District 9 alum Sharlto Copley. Dealing with two classes of people and the struggles between them, this film could be trying to match the intensity of his first film.

 

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (released 04/10/2013)

Finally. The neo-noir super stylish Sin City is back. Complete with insane cast inc. Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Eva Green, Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ray Liotta, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis etc etc etc.  

 

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 (released 25/10/2013) 

Again, another animated film that I had no expectations of which turned out to be amazingly good fun. And here's a sequel!  Following on from the first film but ignoring the sequel to the book the first film is based on may turn out to be a bad choice but I'm certainly interested in this one.

 

Thor: The Dark World (released 30/10/2013) 

Same as Iron Man 3 coming out earlier this year, I'm dying to see the Marvel machine move the Avengers into phase 2 and see how the characters deal with being on their own again after their ensemble moment. I like Chris Hemsworth as Thor and as long as Tom Hiddleston appears as Loki, I'll be happy.

 

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (released 13/12/2013)

Wee! Like when I was a wee nipper and look forward to the next LoTR films, the Hobbit is having the same effect on me. Bring it on!

 

 

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/5

Good evening everyone and welcome to another FFFD entry.

 

Vroom vroom.

If my poor onomatopoeic phrases don't give too much then this is going to be a car related blog entry. Filled with cars....and carbon monoxide (depending on how it goes).

 

Fast and Furious (2009)

Expertly dropping the 'The' and other 'The' from the first film of the series, The Fast and The Furious, this film brings the series back to the high point after the dubious quality of 2 Fast 2 Furious and The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift. I honestly don't think I've ever had to write 'fast' and 'furious' as many times in my entire life before.

 

The film's main reason for success is to bring back gravel voiced man-child Vin Diesel and dead-eyed Paul Walker to the fold and to actually try to divert the attention away from the driving element to focus on things, things like character and plot. It partly succeeds. The main characters seem much more fleshed out than in previous installments and the focus on human interaction among the outlandish action actually pays off in driving (sorry) the film towards a satisfying climax.

Peripheral cast, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez provide some much needed respite from the testosterone filled world that the film is set in. Add to this Gal Gadot as a reasonably well fleshed out strong individual and it almost (almost!) offsets the series staple of objectifying women in hilariously poor taste. Honestly, if the film was to be believed than if you drove anything remotely close to a Nissan Skyline GT-R or a classic Dodge and you'd get incredibly hot, slutty women flinging themselves at you, a fact that, sadly, rarely occurs.

So you have hot women and the fast cars and Justin Lin has a good eye for action, however, the tunnel chases are almost too unbelievable to occur in the pseudo-realistic world created. The far more exciting and tense chases are the road chases and the desert chases, allowing wider shots to frame the action better than the claustrophobic angles of the tunnel chases.

So the first 'true' sequel to The Fast and The Furious is a perfectly watchable film and a worthy contribution to the series.

 

Trailer:

 

 

Fast Five (2011)

 

Given the not terrible return from Fast and Furious, and the fact the film ended RIGHT in the middle of a scene, it made sense for a fifth film to be made. That film is the helpfully numerated Fast Five.

This film brings together pretty much the whole cast from the full series who isn't dead and each character is given enough to do that it pretty much expands everyone's roles from previous entries. The main characters are back and again, the focus of the film is even more removed from simple street racing to heists. This obviously helps bring the film a new audience who maybe wouldn't have appreciated the relatively in-depth car geek feel of some of the other films. New addition The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) is wonderful, he brings a whole level of enthusiasm to the role and it is infectious. The fact he looks like a superhuman shaved kiwi fruit is always a plus.

The action here is superb however. I'm going to start with that. Justin Lin again helms the film and not only is the racing done exceptionally well but there are gunfights, fist fights and foot chases which are tightly edited and pulse pounding. Several of the scenes are imaginative with good stunt work and a nice mix of practical stunts and effects to give the scenes a level of realism whilst simultaneously being SO over the top. It's great fun. 

 

The characters are further intertwined in this film and it is again a surprise to see so much human interaction from a series most famed for street racing. Paul Walker is actually alright in this, a fact that must simply be seen to be believed and Vin Diesel is great. The peripheral cast again are great, funny and useful. Han (from Tokyo Drift) in particular is a highlight. 

 

The settings are also a treat, the slums of Rio are as colourful and pretty (in a slummy way) and the film has a real dirty vibe to it. This mirrors the grittier nature of the film, more people are shot, there's more blood, wounds. It feels nastier.

Of course there is still the objectification there, in particular one almost uncomfortable scene where Gal Gadot strips to a bikini to get a guys hand print by him feeling up her arse. But overall, there's less of this than in previous films. 

All in all, a tighter, better scripted film with better action. This is actually (ACTUALLY) a good film. Not sure how you'd feel about it not having seen any others in the series but it's probably the best place to start.

 

Trailer:

 

 

 

And....I am looking forward to Fast and Furious 6. (can be seen here.) 

Looking forward to 2013 (Jan - June)

Hola amigos.

Before film goodness begins, I just wanted to shout out that this is my 100th blog entry! Woo! It's only taken 402 days. Thanks for all your ongoing support and interest.

 

On with the show!

As we reach the end of the first month of 2013, we've already had a spiffing Tarantino film (Django Unchained) and a piffting Schwarzenegger film (The Last Stand). What other films are coming out this year which raise the pulse (or the eyebrows)?

 

A Good Day to Die Hard (released 14/02/13)

Awkward title aside, I'm quite looking forward to this film. The previous films have ranged from being awesome to silly-but-enjoyable and either way, the promotional material have suggested that this will be a worthy edition to the series. Word is that Bruce Willis is looking to do this film and Die Hard part 6 and then call it a day.

 

Stoker (released 01/03/2013)

Park Chan-wook's debut english language film looks like a terrifying psychological feature completely with Nicole Kidman on solid icy setting. Given the style of film in Chan-wook's back catalogue and you can expect a horrifyingly involving and twisted film and the 18 rating the film has been given would attest to that.

 

Evil Dead (released 19/04/2013)

The facts that elevates this film from simple remake status are the involvement of Sam Raimi (as co-writer and producer) and the producer of the original film, Roger Tapert. This looks like a hugely violent take on the horror classic. Add to this the other fact that the film's first cut to the MPAA was rated NC 17 and you have what looks to be the gory highlight of the year (hopefully).

 

 Iron Man 3 (released 26/04/2013)

 Considering that both Iron Man 1 and 2 AND The Avengers were all awesome, there is no reason to believe that they'll drop the ball with this film. Include writer/director Shane Black is taking over from John Favreau and considering the promotional material so far, the film looks like a deeper, darker look at the character post-Avengers.

 

 Star Trek Into Darkness  (released 17/05/2013)

The first Star Trek film showed off the quality casting and scripting and made the first film a great piece of entertainment although the plot left something to be desired. This time around, the film looks to be going darker and deeper (again) and the addition of Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain could be a masterstroke.

 

Fast and Furious 6 (released 24/05/2013)

The Fast And The Furious franchise enters its twelfth year and ever since 2009's Fast and Furious, the series has progressively dropped its single minded car-porn mind set and instead focused more on character and stunning action. The series has gone from strength to strength and 2011's Fast Five was great fun. Here's hoping it goes on in that fashion.

 

Man of Steel (released 14/06/2013)

Looks to be an action packed and beautifully shot realistic take on the most famous Superhero of them all. Hopefully they can bypass the innate character flaws that he is distant and impossible to relate to. Impressive cast and talent on display and it all looks like this film will stand shoulder to shoulder with the classic Christopher Reeve films.

 

World War Z (released 21/06/2013)

CGI heavy zombie film that looks truly apocalyptic in scale. Brad Pitt is usually watchable even when on autopilot so and this looks like a challenging role. Based on the cult book of the same name, this film elevates the scale of an invasion to worldwide and the trailers are trying very hard to sell the scope of the film and hopefully the film will satisfy.

 

That's all for now. Next time, July - December 2013.

 

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/4

A hearty monday to you all.

Another long toil of a Monday is bettered by the appearance of Film Flare, the collection of words that deal with films and stuff. 

 

Let the collection commence:

 

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

 

 

Oh hello Tim Burton film with Johnny Depp. The modern classic combination have worked together to produce fine pieces of work before but Sleepy Hollow certainly ranks up there with my favourite.

However, watching it again for the first time in maybe a decade and several things stand out. First of all, the cast is BEASTLY! Apart from Depp and Ricci, the film also stars Christopher Walken, Christopher Lee, Michael Gambon, Martin Landau, Miranda Richardson and Richard Griffiths. That's a quality list of folks there folks.   

 

Now, being honest, the film is little more than a very gothic slasher film. Luckily, With Burton on deck, the gothic elements are fantastic. Eerie settings are exquisitely shot, the peripheral weather and music all help to ratchet up not only the tension but the gothic elements of the film. The town of Sleepy Hollow itself is almost a character, creaking floorboards and doors, an old wooden bridge, old, gnarled trees and warped glass in windows. 

The slasher elements also work well, the deaths are graphic, tense and unexpected and whilst the origins of the horseman isn't quite explored as well as you'd hope, watching the horseman ride about the place is terrifying. Indeed the plot isn't the film's strong point, it is much more a film for the senses than the mind.

 

All in all though, the film is great (and sometimes gory) fun and well worth a watch.

 

Trailer:

 

 

And the reason for the short-ish entry?

Superbowl motherfuckers!!!! Apart from congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens, there are trailers.

 

Iron Man 3: Comedy

 

 

Fast and Furious 6: (Muscly)

 

 

Star Trek Into Darkness: (Cumberbatch-y)