The Time Machine (1960)

As a replacement for The Devil Rides Out, this is the first film to take H.G.Well's novel 'The Time machine and at this moment I had only seen the rubbish 2002 version and I have to say that this is 100% better. Ok there are some laughable moments but the film was generally good.

The idea of a story told in flashback might seem like something perfectly normal nowadays but in 1960 it must have been quite different. There are some funny moments throughout this film and whilst it might seem a bit slow at times compared to 21st century eyes there is something quite charming about this film. My only issue with the film was with the humans in the future part. Weena (cant believe they went with that name) was very wooden and made Orlando Bloom look charismatic. In fact, none of them looked particuarly spectacular. I thought that the Morlocks were quite impressive and the make up used should be commended. I thought that as a villain the fact they didnt speak or appear to have a leader was somewhat sinister and thought that it was brave not to go overboard and have a bald pantomine leader inside a volcano with a white cat.

Not the greatest film ever but still a highly enjoyable 100 minutes or so and far far better than the 2002 version.

The Amityville Horror (1979)

The Amityville Horror is the first of at present 10 films to be based on the events of a house where a series of murders happened and this film is considered one of the best. Having watched the most recent a few weeks ago it's hard to dispute that claim however this is one of the most boring horror films that I have ever seen. There are episodes of Scooby Doo that are scarier than this film.

There were many things that just didnt make sense such as what was the black oil like stuff? If the house was haunted, why so much fuss about the little room under the stairs in the basement? Ultimatley it's a dull film that isnt helped by the fact there are no scares. If at least one of them had perished then it would have been redeemed but no everyone makes it. I did think the Brolin's character might snuff it at the end but no he manages to fall into the oil and rescue the dog and they all drive away happily.

I cant quite figure out why people rave about this film because its not as good as they make out.

Senna (2010)

WINNER OF 2012 BAFTA - BEST DOCUMENTARY & BEST EDITING

This film is about Aryton Senna who was a Formula One racing driver who died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. What we get over the course of 100 minutes is a fascinating story that is largely enjoyable but there are a few moments where you see dead F1 drivers which I found uncomfortable. The last 10 minutes or so are very anxious to watch because I knew (as I imagine everyone who saw this film knew) that Senna was going to die.

It doesnt stay on this too long which is a good thing and its quite surprising how bad Alain Prost if shown in this film. I'm not saying that it was one sided view but there's no smoke without fire and some of the things that went on in this movie show what a political sport F1 really is. It's nice to know that there hasnt been a single death in F1 since Senna and that is down to the safety of the cars.

Even if you dont know anything about F1 there is plenty to like about this film and every time I see it I still find lots to enjoy and be sad about.

North by Northwest (1959)

North By Northwest is a film of two halves. The first half is complete nonsense because its a film which works on the basis of mistaken identity and its laughable. Most of this early part of the film makes me question whether its a comedy or a drama. Thankfully after a while it develops and the final half is absolutley fantastic. The scene with the plane coming down on Cary Grant is iconic and it didnt disappoint. Another iconic moment is on Mount Rushmore which again didnt disappoint.

Cary Grant is very good and I'm ashamed to say that I had never seen a film of his before tonight but will endevour to see more in the future. Alfred Hitchcock has a history of creating some great moments and those are apparent in all his films such as Psycho and The Birds. It's just a shame that the first half of this film lets the whole thing down because its the second half is so good.

Wall Street (1987)

Wall Street is directed by Oliver Stone who has directed some quite fantastic films and this is regarded as one of them. I caught a bit of this over Christmas and was intriguied by it but as it was finishing at 2.30 in the morning I passed on it and decided that when I was compiling my list that Wall Street would go on it.

It's a film of it's time. It's hard to imagine with the invention of twitter, facebook and our attitudes towards bankers that this sort of attitude would exist. Gordon Gekko is a truly lothsome individual and is superbly played by Michael Douglas. Charlie Sheen is on winning form as the young cocky guy who is trying to impress the boss but gets to close and screwed over involving a firm that his father (Martin Sheen) works for. When Sheen Jnr realises this and decides to exact his revenge on Gekko that is when the film really stands out for me. Martin Sheen is great in this despite not being in a prominent role.

Wall Street might scream 80's but to be honest its as relevent today as it was back then. I'm not sure whether I want to see WS2 but I did like the way that there was no definative ending to this film. Just have to get over my dislike of Shia LaBouf.

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999)

Ok so it had to happy. George Lucas has found yet another excuse to bring out the Star Wars films at the cinema. After about 1000 different releases on VHS and DVD. Lucas has made his film into 3D when its clear the 3D is on the way out as it clearly doesnt work. I do remember seeing this the first time at the cinema 13 years ago and out of the six films, this is by far the weakest.

It is better than I remember but its still the weakest. The 3D does pretty much nothing and it just shows what a lost cause 3D is. Speaking of the film, there are some good sequences, the pod racing is something that has improved over the years as has the palace stuff towards the end on Naboo. On the downside, Ja Ja Binks is still annoying as anything and would make anyone join the dark side. McGreggor and Neeson are very good as is Portman and the guy playing Anakin manages to impress though is slightly annoying at the very beginning.

I dont know when the next films will be released but I cant imagine that the 3D will be better on those than it was on this one. I suspect that by the time Return of the Jedi is released the 3D fad will have pretty much gone from the cinema.

The King's Speech (2010)

The Kings Speech is a film about someone with a speech impediment being forced into a position that they dont really want to be largely because of the said impediment. It's just unfortunate that the position is King of England. The film is the first of Colin Firth's that I have ever seen because I just cant bear those Briget Jones films.

The film has some impressive performances especially from Firth and Geoffrey Rush. Helena Bonham Carter is very good as the future Queen Mother and Guy Pearce is surprisingly good as Edward. Michael Gambon is perfect as usual but its a shame that he isnt in it for very long.

The Kings Speech is a very good film that apparently received applause from cinema goers. It didnt happen in the screening that I was in but it should have.

Moon (2009)

This is a film that I have heard about and it sounded quite interesting. It has similarities to Silent Running and its about a man who is all alone on the moon with just a few weeks to go before he can go home. Moon came out in the same year as JJ Abrahms bought Star Trek back to life with a shiny and very glitzy adventure. Both deal with space, admittedly in different ways but its interesting to get two space stories in the same year. Star Trek had a $150million budget whilst Moon had just $5million. The film sees Sam Rockwell who plays Sam Bell who is coming to the end of a three year mission on the moon. He is totally on his own and only has recorded messages from his pregnant wife as a link to the Earth. His only companion is a robot (voice by Kevin Spacey) and at the beginning of the movie Bell has an accident and when he wakes up but cannot remember anything and so begins the

The film’s start has a feel of the Tom Hanks film castaway about it. There are large parts of the film where there is no dialogue and just Sam Rockwell walking around the moon base. It’s once the accident happens and it shows the there are multiple Rockwells that shows that is a bit more than Castaway. It’s credit to Sam Rockwell that despite being the only person on the moonbase he manages to make the film seem heartbreaking as well as engaging. The film spends a lot of time asking some interesting questions about what it is to be human and is everything what it seems and it shows that intelligent films can work in 21^st century cinema.

Sam Rockwell is in the star role and the only thing I had seen him in before was The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy and this was a completely different film obviously. But I found Rockwell’s performance to be utterly compelling and only gets better as the film. His interaction with GERTY is very well played and despite one being a robot voiced by Spacey, the relationship works quite well. Kevin Spacey’s voice is perfect for the role as GERTY because he has a very dry and at times dull voice and I think that his role made the that bit more interesting.

Moon is a very nice film that uses its $5million budget very well. It might not have had as much exposure as Star Trek but I felt that this film was more satisfying and the hype that I had heard about this film before hand was spot on as it was a film that had a quite a small cast but managed to fill every second with a lot of drama and Duncan Jones’ first film is a triumph and shows that you cant achieve a lot with a small budget and it’s a taste of movie making from the good old days but given a modern day twist.

4/5