We had a bit of a movie marathon at home this weekend, catching up on various horrors that slipped under our radar in the past year or so. I must be honest, I went into War games with no real expectations as this is hardly ground breaking in it's ideas, but I was really very surprised to find the film to be as good as it is. After a kind of a naff set up and introduction, the film really gets going and never lets up until the final image. The chase/hunt is relentless and it's quite a tense watch. It's got some quite clever visuals where the camera kind of drifts in and out of focus, and because it's shot hand held it really puts you into the movie. This is also helped because none of the cast are particularly well known, at least not to me, so everyone was expendable and it was clever how the film sets up certain characters as the lead only to bump them off unexpectedly. You never really know beyond the main girl who's gonna stick around til the end. To their credit the actors are all very good and should go on to be better known. I think that the film could have benefited from spending more time on the soldiers background because their motives are never really clear, but then again, that also makes it kind of scary too. Not the best film we saw over the weekend, but pretty bloody good all the same.
Reviews
3 Reviews
The Wicker Man
(2006)
Oh dear
21 May 2012
Warning: Spoilers
What was I expecting? It was a pointless remake of a classic British film starring Nicholas Cage and re set in the States.
The first question I find myself asking is why did I watch this? Curiosity I think.
It really is quite simply terrible. Nicholas Cage when given free reign is a destructive influence to a film. Here he out loons even himself in one of the strangest performances I have ever seen.
Even writing about this film hurts. It's so utterly bad, I started doing the ironing to distract me. On a Sunday night.
The Original film is slowburn with a quirky offbeat kinda feel.
With a remake, all of the unknown plot points and twists from the first film would be apparent to the audience, so surely the impact would need to be replaced and the tension built through another means?
Wells sadly in this film having Nic Cage run around punching women in the face whilst dressed as a bear is about as tense as it gets.
Yes, that's right - he punches women whilst dressed as a bear.
Dear me.
Avoid.
The first question I find myself asking is why did I watch this? Curiosity I think.
It really is quite simply terrible. Nicholas Cage when given free reign is a destructive influence to a film. Here he out loons even himself in one of the strangest performances I have ever seen.
Even writing about this film hurts. It's so utterly bad, I started doing the ironing to distract me. On a Sunday night.
The Original film is slowburn with a quirky offbeat kinda feel.
With a remake, all of the unknown plot points and twists from the first film would be apparent to the audience, so surely the impact would need to be replaced and the tension built through another means?
Wells sadly in this film having Nic Cage run around punching women in the face whilst dressed as a bear is about as tense as it gets.
Yes, that's right - he punches women whilst dressed as a bear.
Dear me.
Avoid.
Red State
(2011)
Good work Kevin....Finally
21 May 2012
Off the bat I feel I must say that I am no fan of Kevin Smith! Mallrats and Chasing Amy have their fleeting moments, and Dogma is his best film thus far, but beyond that I haven't got many positive things to say about his films. Overrated and childish come to mind.
Red State however was a different story altogether. Perhaps it helped that I didn't realise that Kevin Smith had directed it when I sat down to watch it recently. I think that the concept, whilst not entirely original is handled in a fresh way. The story is gripping and the film feels tight and free of any of Smith's normal bloated frames. I liked that the films central character was conventionally a villain and that none of the cast were immune to a gunshot to the head out of the blue. Michael Parks continues to be the best thing in everything he does, and the rest of the cast all feel genuine.
Whilst this is a massive departure for Smith, it has shown that he can make a decent film. I will watch out for his next flick with anticipation as opposed to trepidation.
Red State however was a different story altogether. Perhaps it helped that I didn't realise that Kevin Smith had directed it when I sat down to watch it recently. I think that the concept, whilst not entirely original is handled in a fresh way. The story is gripping and the film feels tight and free of any of Smith's normal bloated frames. I liked that the films central character was conventionally a villain and that none of the cast were immune to a gunshot to the head out of the blue. Michael Parks continues to be the best thing in everything he does, and the rest of the cast all feel genuine.
Whilst this is a massive departure for Smith, it has shown that he can make a decent film. I will watch out for his next flick with anticipation as opposed to trepidation.
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