Mission Impossible 3 (2006)

It’s been a long time since I had seen the last Mission Impossible film which I have to admit was rubbish. People complained that the first one was too difficult but then they went totally the other way for number two. This one seemed a lot better partly because it was co-written and directed by JJ Abrams who has done stuff like Lost and was involved in Cloverfield. The fourth film is currently out in cinemas and I may watch it soon.

The baddie in this is Philip Seymour Hoffman who is a very good actor but remarkably I haven’t seen him in a movie to my knowledge since Twister. The scenes that he and Tom Cruise have together are very good and the best was the very first one that turned out to be towards the end was the biggest reminder of the difference between film 2 and 3. The only problem that I had with the film was how they ended Hoffman’s character. It just seemed like a tag on at the very end and wasn’t worthy of the actor or character. It’s good to see Tom Cruise on good form again. I haven’t seen a lot of the films that he has been in recently because they just look terrible but this was different and some of the stunts he did looked truly spectacular and the one where he bounces onto the car looked painful.

I liked the film so much that at one point I turned to my friend and said that the second half of the film would have to be spectacularly bad to make this worse that number two. Even the introduction of the wife didn’t do anything to dapen my enjoyment of the story. The story was straight forward and it looked like they had found a suitable middle ground between the previous films and remembered that it wasn’t or shouldn’t try and compete with the Bond films or the Bourne one and in this film despite a few moments it remembered what it was.

Mission Impossible 3 is a very good film and I feel a lot more positively about number four than I did previously.

Uncle Buck (1989)

Uncle Buck is a film that I had seen on TV for years but always seemed to miss the first 20 minutes or so. I always seem to join it when Buck is actually looking after the kids. So whilst I was shopping I decided the buy Uncle Buck for the princely sum of £3. The film sees John Candy as the formentioned Buck who has to take care of his nieces and nephews during a family crisis. What follows is a story that is centered around Buck’s frosty relationship with the eldest child. Over the course of the film their relationship eases and the film moves along at a lovely pace.

There are funny moments throughout the film (usually involving Candy) such as making a massive amount of large pancakes. Also when he goes after the elder nieces boyfriend in the house and uses a drill into the lock bursts through only for the boyfriend to be cheating with someone else leading to the boyfriend being in the boot. I could go on but you would get bored very quickly. Surficed to say that there are many moments to enjoy.

It’s a John Hughes film so it shouldn’t be surprising that it holds up well. It’s very rare that films hold up like this and that partly due to Hughes’ writing but also because of the fantastic John Candy. He is truly great and it’s a shame that he died so young because every film he has been in he has always been one of the reasons why it is so good. This movie also feature Macauly Culkin who at this time was a very big name. It’s hard to imagine that there was a time when he was so. I cant recall the last thing that he had been in but it’s fair to say he will never appear in such great collection of films again.

Uncle Buck still stands up well and it’s a film that I would be happy to pay £13 for rather than £3.

The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992)

Remarkably I have never seen The Muppets Christmas Carol. I’m ashamed to admit it but its just one of those films that I was aware of but never got the opportunity to watch so whilst I was browsing in HMV I bought it for £5 which I thought was a bargain. The film stars Sir Michael Caine who isnt the sort of person I would have thought of to appear in this film. The new Muppets film is due to appear in cinemas in 2012 and it seems like a good opportunity to watch it. Especially at this time of year.

The only issue I have with this film is that there isnt anywhere near enough Fozzie Bear. I think that Fozzie is the bear of the Muppets and quite why he reduced to effectively a cameo role is beyond me. Apart from that the film is very good and does a great job of making the story fit the franchise.

Occasionally there are films that don’t quite live up to expectations but I’m glad to say that The Muppets Christmas Carol isnt one of those. It’s as good as I hoped it would be. Michael Caine is very good as Scrooge and all the muppets are as funny as they should be.

Casino Royale (2006)

Casino Royale is the first Bond film to feature Daniel Craig as the secret agent. It had been four years since the travesty of Die Another Day which was truly awful. Since then the world has seen Jack Bauer in the 24 series and then there was Matt Damon as Jason Bourne in the Bourne films. There was another Bond film with this title but it wasn’t official and had David Niven and was god awful.

This film does a fantastic job of blending between the classic Bond films and the Bauer/Bourne era. There is a slight continuity error in that M is played by Judi Dench and in Goldeneye she is suppose to be the first female M in the service and considering the Casino Royale is the first story for Bond it does create a problem. That aside its still a great Bond film and Daniel Craig is a great Bond which wasn’t clear when he was revealed as the new 007 at the Thames and looked miserable.

The best part was at the Casino. It’s unheard of for a poker game to be exciting but somehow its achieved in this film. It’s perhaps helped by the brief interruptions which see Bond in various states of unease and as a Bond villain, Le Chiffe isnt the best baddie that James Bond has ever seen but its still a good attempt and there is something slightly uneasy about someone who cries blood. Very well played.

It’s just a shame that the next Bond film isnt as good.

Home Alone 2 (1992)

The sequel might not be as good as the first film but its still another good adventure from John Hughes. It has pretty much the same cast as the first one except in this second film there is a bizarre cameo from Donald Trump.

It sees Kevin (Macauly Culkin) get on the wrong plane to arrive in New York whilst the family arrive in Florida. It seems like a lucky accident as Kevin is enjoying lovely winter weather whilst the family are in rain soaked Florida. The problem is that the film stretches believeability. With the first one its ok because it must happen all the time when a kid is forgotten in such a big family however for it to happen again is something that can be seen as a stretch.

Don’t get me wrong but there is a lot to like and there is pretty much the same sort of thing in HA2 than in HA1. There is the funny OTT mother who is trying to get to her son who the night before they depart have a massive row. You would have thought that during row number two that they would have stopped for a moment and realised what was going on but no they don’t and thus leads to the convoluted reason why Kevin is in New York.

HA 2 is an enjoyable film and whilst it lives in the shadow of the first one its still a good effort even if it does stretch things a bit. It’s quite right that this cast didn’t appear in the other two HA films because it would have ruined things.

Home Alone (1990)

Well tis the season to be jolly. The first christmas of the film club and again I am at home and so I have decided it will be christmas films during December and the first one is going to be Home Alone. I still think that after 21 years it is still a very good film.

I think that despite the soppy end its still a funny film and reminds me when films could do that and not have irritating little t***ts in the lead role. Great to have John Candy and Joe Pesci in the film, though I could have done with more Candy in the film. Might order Uncle Buck to make up for it.

Home Alone 2 next week I think.

In The Loop (2009)

After missing film night last week due to a christmas party its a partial return with me watching a film at my house. This week is In The Loop which is a movie version of 'The Thick of It'. I'm a big fan of The Thick of It but whilst the film has its moments its not as good as it could have been. Peter Capaldi is very funny as Malcolm Tucker and Tom Hollander and Chris Addison are also on good form.

Ransom (1996)

There is no L this week and so its back to D's house and to watch Ransom which is a nice little film that just happens to have Mel Gibson and Rene Russo in it. It's a story that starts off a a simple ransom and then goes a bit weird towards the end. It's not a bad film and it was done at a time when Mel Gibson's career hadnt gone down the toilet.

The film club takes a break next week as I have to go to a christmas meal (in november I know!) but there will be a film of some sort being watched.

The Rock (1996)

There was a change of location this week as the film club moved to my house and there was a choice between this and Ransom. Well we chose this as I think that The Rock is a damn good movie. Despite it being a Michael Bay, it is a very good movie that never gets boring. Another thing that is odd about this is that its one of only two films that Nicholas Cage is in that he's any good in. Ed Harris is brilliant in this as is Sir Sean Connery.

No matter how many times I see this film I am still impressed with it. It's that rare thing of two terrible things coming together with a brilliant thing (Connery) and something good coming from it.

Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

It was my turn to choose and it seemed quite fitting that PA3 comes out this week. This is the prequel and to be honest I wasnt quite on par with the first two. There were some impressive moments but it didnt seem to have that edge that the first two have.

There was one moment where I wondered what kind of film this was. The scene where the dad goes into a dark room, turns on his light and a group of old people approach him after he runs back into the house.

It may required a second viewing but on first viewing I have to admit that it wasnt on par with 1 and 2 and if/when there is a fourth film there will be a return of the original characters.

Evil Things (2011)

It was back to normal as the DLT film club resumed with this terrible offering. Evil Things created this image in my mind of a very scary film but what we got was anything but. We’ve seen a few of these found footage type films and to be honest this was by far the worst. I think that it’s like anything after a while you come to expect something more and to be honest anything would have been better than this. I would even have watched Troll Hunter again.

The film starts off with these five people travelling somewhere and soon a mad van starts following them and for a large portion of this. We have a moody girl who we called ‘car sick girl’ and soon after this started it became the other guy’s (the one who wasn’t holding the camera) turn to become annoying.

The problem with this film is that none of it made sense. Was it trying to be a sort of Blair Witch type film or was it trying to be Paranormal Activity? The film seemed to be a mad guy with a van but then there was a moment when a door just slams shut. Was it implying the guy with the van did this but if he was in the van during this then what/who caused this. The film moves at odd paces. Before we know it, they are lost in the woods and within seconds start turning on each other. In any other film this would progress over 10-15 minutes, then no sooner have they started turning on each other than they start screaming at a broken branch and start running towards the house.

This is the first film from Domonic Perez and hopefully he will direct better films because this is an awful film.

Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

Sunday Night film is Paranormal Activity 2 which is a film which takes an awful long time to get going. There are several scares in this film which does feel like its got a bigger budget for it as the house is bigger and the effects are better. The best scene for me is when Grayden's character is dragged from Hunter's room and down the stairs where she manages to get free before been dragged down into the basement.

The daughter is annoying as hell and I cant fathom out why she was left to live. It does seem a bit odd how she doesnt feature in the final scene.

PA2 is a good sequel which is more than could be said for most sequels. It's not as good as PA but I do have high hopes for PA3 which I am contemplating seeing at the cinema.

Paranormal Activity (2009)

Well no proper film club as D has other plans. So with the third Paranormal Activity film coming out soon I thought I would go back to the beginning and watch the first two. Tonight its were it began with a very scary and very good film. It just edges out PA2 in terms of effect because this feels far more than the sequel.

Micah is slightly annoying in parts of this film but its still a very good film and one that should be watched in the dark cause it'll make you jump like I did. The thing I like about this story is how there is a slow build up. A little thing will happen and about 5 or 10 minutes of nothing before another little thing. It carries on like this but its the little things that make the film good.

The Social Network (2010)

Firstly I have given the film club the new name of the DLT. Secondly, due to D being unwell the DLT film club has taken a weeks break so I am at home watching a film from my collection. I was deciding between The Social Network, Inception, Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield. I chose this film because it was the first that came to mind.

The film is surprising because its a film about horrible people that are quite clever and it shows how someone who has very little social skills nds up creating the ultimate social tool. It's not the sort of film that would end up mid day on Channel 5 but just picks a bit out of Zuckerburgs life and shows us what he was like.

It's a very very good film. Back to normal next week.

Atrocious (2011)

Atrocious is an odd film which sees the Quintanilla family at a house which has a funny garden next to it and strange things are suppose to happen. This is another of those found footage things but the problem with this is that its not as scary as it could have been. The footage of the mad garden were milding entertaining but it was predictable that once they went into the garden that they were going to get lost.

Being in a foreign language didn’t make any difference really as it wouldn’t have made the action (or lack of at times) any better.

If you have seen the poster for this film then it gives the impression that something terrible happens in this film and the only thing of any note that happens is that towards the end when the house goes dark and things go wrong. There is one sequence where something is coming up the stairs, there is a light and then it changes to something else which didn’t make any sense.

Atrocious has its moments but there is a small amount that is good and the rest is relatively ok.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

WINNER OF 2012 BAFTA - BEST BRITISH FILM

Now I have seen the TV series (well all but 1 episode) and this is my second movie in two days. I think that this maybe my favourite movie of 2011 and I wasnt expecting to think that.

The story is essentially about how Smiley (Gary Oldman) has to find out who the mole is. Over the course of two and a bit hours. The story does all the things that I remember from the TV series. My main worry about this film was that the TV series was seven hours of fine television and yet somethings would have to be left out. To be honest, I couldnt point it out. The film does make slightly more sense than the TV series.

This film contains the best of British acting. Gary Oldman manages to do a good version of Alec Guiness but manages to make it his own as opposed to an homage. Benedict Cumberbatch is almost on film stealing offering. Colin Firth is also on good form but isnt in it enough for my likeing. I think that after seeing him in The King's Speech, I have a new appreciation for Mr. Firth. Ciarain Hinds is perhaps the one that I wasnt impressed with because he wasnt in it very much. Toby Jones is brilliant and 24 hours after seeing Richard Attenborough in Jurrasic Park, Jones' accent is very odd but I found his performance is very good. John Hurt also puts in a performance that is what we have come to expect from him.

The thing about this film is that like Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, you have to pay attention. Unless you know what was going on before hand its a film that you couldnt just let your attention wander. I guessed correctly who the mole was and in case you havent seen it I wont say who it was but I think that his ending was very well done and the music was the right choice.

TTSS is a brilliant film. All the good things that I had heard about it were true and Gary Oldman hould get some sort of award recognition when the Oscars and BAFTA's come round. If you havent seen this film, then you should.

Jurrasic Park (1993)

18 years after I first saw this film, I went my local Showcase with a sense of excitment and a sense of dread. Excitment because I felt like I was reliving my youth and dread because it was a 5pm showing on a Saturday evening. I was missing Dr Who for this but I thought it was a price worth paying.

I wont go over the story itself except to say that it stands up remarkably well and the special effects dont look out of place to any special effects laden film today. I was surprised that the film was a PG because I thought that some bits of dinosaurs attacking humans would have pushed it to a 12A rating but that for the BBFC to decide. Just to say that there were young kids who appear to have been traumatised by it which did make me chuckle.

Also something I have never noticed until now is how Richard Attenborough's accent changes wildly throughout the film. One moment it went Scottish and then in other parts it went to British. Odd.

I am curious as to why they have decided to bring JP out on the 18th anniversary. It must only be a money reason but it is a damning verdict of the state of cinema when they are having to bring out the classics to try and make some money. To be fair I dont care because I had a fun time and was glad to see it on the big screen. When I watch it on DVD, it wont have the same effect as the big screen. I will clearly have to invest in a huge TV.

The Taking of Phelam 123 (2009)

I started to watch this film because I had heard about Unstoppable which is a film by Tony Scott which is set on a train that is moving. This is another train film by Tony Scott that doesn’t move. The film sees Denzel Washington as a disgraced train operator who is forced into having a conversation with John Travolta.

Despite this being a rather flimsy plot it is actually a lot of fun and this is down to Travolta and Washington who have some good scenes together. I did find it funny the way that Travolta kept saying Mother f***er. Made me smile every time that he said it. The film would probably have been better had it not had Travolta or Washington in it. There was one moment when Washington’s character talks to his wife about buying milk of all things. Quite a strange moment when its at the business end of things.

This film is rather good despite the things wrong with it and it shows how far Travolta has come since Battlefield Earth.

Troll Hunter (2011)

This film was talked about quite a lot because it was another of those cheap films that achieve a lot. I must admit that I found it to be terrible and not at all what it should have been. Ok so some of it was quite funny and it was an improvement of Grave Encounters but after a while it stopped being fun and became a totally pointless film. So pointless that I fell asleep and woke up once it had finished. I don’t think that I will be returning to it anytime in the future.

It’s not that it’s a foreign film with subtitles because I can cope with that its just that I don’t really get Trolls and find them along with anything like that to be totally boring and not worth making a film about. The only thing that I can say in a positive way is that the effects were well realised despite what must have been a small budget. It all manages to work rather well. Actually another thing is the cast, some of it is rather well done and then there is the troll hunter who is rather entertaining and is simply quite mad which fits in with the film.

Troll Hunters is one of the worst films of 2011

Grave Encounters (2011)

This is a film by The Vicious Brothers which is a spoof of sorts of all those paranormal shows like Most Haunted which spend an evening in a supposedly abandoned place and wait for nothing to happen. This film takes place in an abandoned psychiatric hospital. All that is suppose to happen is that they spend 6 hours watching nothing happen and then come out but it turns out that things are far more real than they expected. The thing about these characters at the beginning is that they are all annoying, not one of them you wouldn’t want to give a slap to.

The film doesn’t really get going until it gets dark and even then it’s not the most amazing film that there has ever been. There are some moments that did make me jump but I think that because I found the characters so bland and annoying that anything they said or did was not taken serious. It uses the darkness to great effect and that’s what makes the film worth watching because when its dark you know that something is going to happen but not sure exactly what.

When the film did get good it was just as the characters were being picked off one by one. It was fun trying to pick who was going to be the next one to be killed. Lance Preston (the presenter) suffered perhaps the most intriguing amount of trouble. He is the last one and goes slowly mad before stamping a rat to death and munching on it. Then he gets a lobotomy, this section goes on for quite a while and its only once its finished that you notice it because the whole idea of the lobotomy comes out of left field that it draws you in. What’s strange is that at the beginning we get some bloke saying these had been handed in. Quite why and by whom is a mystery but that is the main issue with the film. Things happen and no sense is made of them.

Performance wise the actors in this were mixed. They all started off as not the greatest and at best they are average. There’s no real sense of connection and it just seems like a group of people who are forced into making a movie together and when they get picked off you find yourself cheering the monsters.

Grave Encounters isn’t a terrible film but it’s in the vein of those found footage and despite not being the best it certainly has its moments. It has an interesting premise and considering that it didn’t have the biggest budgets in the world (rumoured to be around $1 million) it still have some impressive effects.

Rating - 7/10

Monsters (2010)

Monsters is one of those films that I had heard good things about but never quite got the chance to watch. As this is the first film in the Film Club I chose this film to kick start it. This film sees two characters Andrew (Scott McNairy) and Samantha (Whitney Able) travel from one side of an infected zone to the other. The infected zone was set up after a probe crashed in Central America and a new life form began appearing.

Gareth Edwards was the person who wrote and directed this film for next to no money which is an achievement considering what he has achieved. What is quite clever is that the alien invasion that took place is treated like old news.

When you see news about Iraq or Afghanistan its treated rather blasé which is how the aliens are viewed in this film. It’s not seen as the big breaking news that we would take it if we to happen tomorrow. It seems quite odd at first to see they behaving so oddly but after a while you just learn to embrace it and that helps move the story along.

There are few moments when we actually see any monsters which is where the film title is slightly misleading. In fact its not an alien movie but a character film which sees two reluctant people forced to stick together through a horrible area with incredible risks.

The final 10 minutes or so are some of the best because just when we think the characters were being rescued at petrol station we are treated to the most visual aliens of the movie. They seem to be doing something together and its filmed so beautifully and that sums up the film.

Despite having a small budget (rumoured to be $500,000) it shows to everyone that you don’t have to spend 100’s of millions of dollars to produce something this enjoyable.

The two lead actors have the sort of relationship which works quite well and considering I had never heard of either actor they put in a solid performance. Whitney Able is really good as Samantha Wynden though I didn’t like her to begin with. Scoot McNairy was also good as Andrew Kaulder who like Samantha wasn’t a particularly likeable person to begin with but due to the setting of the story it allows the characters to mellow somewhat and become likeable. I had never seen these two before and I think that is another reason that I like this film is because if it were Tom Cruise or James McAvoy in the film then it wouldn’t have worked.

I was really impressed with this movie. It’s a snappy 94 minutes and it makes a refreshing change to the science-fiction movies that like to have massive explosions and over the top action sequences. The fact that the story has a small budget is used as an advantage and I for one think its one of the best alien films of recent years.

Rating: 8/10