Movie Review - Firequake

Firequake

2014

The Cast

I am a lover of B-Movies and usually the worse the better. I say this because usually the writer, director, and actors will generally try to give us something entertaining - and I thank them for that, a lot of my happiest times have been in front of B-Movies. However, there are times, such as this, when it appears that nobody really gave a damn about the film. Which is a shame as the concept isn't too bad for an ecological disaster flick. As we are running out of fuel we need to find new ways to generate power and Dr Eve Carter, played by Alexandra Paul, has come up with a way to use the sustainable energy from magma to create clean and free energy. The trouble is that this is where the writer ran out of good ideas and hit the cliche book for inspiration. Everything from here on out is so "By The Book" it's risible and ridiculous... and very boring as we've seen it all before.

I have to give credit to Paul and her co-star Browne who played Killian, as these obviously didn't get the memo and decided to actually try and give a decent acting job with the script and direction they were given. Sorry to say that this just wasn't enough. The worst actress, by far, was Barker who played Dr Carter's daughter, Nikki. Though she was supposed to be sixteen she looked to be more in her thirties and delivered her lines with the force of a sledgehammer. As for the rest of the actors, well they ranged from dire to wooden.

The direction of the film didn't help any as the director was very poor at creating an atmosphere of tension and excitement. He just plods the audience along with the story. Instead of sitting on the edge of my seat I was twiddling my fingers in an effort to stay awake. Even the special effects that were on offer were substandard - they didn't even rise to the dizzying heights of poor.

The one thing that made me smile was that all the roads in Prague appear to lead to the same intersection. When Dr Carter and her daughter are searching the town for a pharmacist and insulin, they seem to get stuck in a temporal location warp. Which doesn't allow them to leave one particularly badly staged intersection. It's also amazing that in all of Prague the bad guy can home in on them amazingly fast.

There's an awful lot wrong with this motion picture and very little that's right... and nothing to recommend anybody to watch. Stay well clear of this film.

I give this a blisteringly bad 2.5 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - Ghost In The Shell [Live-Action]

Ghost In The Shell

2017

Paramount Pictures / DreamWorks / Reliance Entertainment / Shanghai Film Group/ Huahua Media / Arad Productions / Steven Paul Production / Amblin Partners / Grosvenor Park Productions / Seaside Entertainment / Weying Galaxy Entertainment

Paramount Pictures

4 / 10

There's a problem with re-filming classic and iconic movies and that is perception.  This film fails mostly due to the writers and directors not knowing what they wanted from this movie.  They had a massive budget to craft and create a beautiful and thought-provoking piece of art.  Was the estimated $110,000,000 worth it... NO!  Not one penny of it.

The writers strangely opted to not tell the original story but to create a mish-mash of the Original 1995 Ghost In The Shell Movie and the Second Gig of the 2004 Series, along with the Basset Hound from the less-than-stellar Ghost In The Shell II: Innocence and make it a 12a Certificate (WHY?).  Unfortunately by doing this the messages which the originals gave the audience is lost.  In fact, the idea of "The Ghost" is so heavy-handedly hammered into you I thought I might need a doctor.  If the writers, Jamie Moss, William Wheeler, and Ehren Kruger couldn't come up with a decent original story based on the G.I.T.S. Universe than a straight forward remake would have been better.  To be honest, now that A.I.'s are closer than ever the original story would have been more poignant.

As for the direction, this was lazy, to say the least as director, Rupert Sanders copies some scenes and mixes others together.  All the original shots within the film are pretty unimpressive.

I also hope that the acting and characterisations of the cast were down to Sanders vision of the movie as most of them put in sub-standard portrayals.  The worst of which is Takeshi Kitano who plays Section 9's leader Aramaki.  This character is wily like a fox, though does show quite a bit of emotion on his face and in his voice.  Kitano just feels like he turned up, said his lines, then went home.  It's such a lacklustre appearance that in some scenes I thought Sanders had just inserted a still shot and dubbed the speech over.  As for Scarlett Johansson their's nowhere near enough presence or assurance in her portrayal of the major.  For most of the scenes, she skulks around with her head down.  This is a strong and assured character.  Bad guys and people, in general, should be weary of her.  This could be down to the butchering of her backstory that Moss, Wheeler, and Kruger did.  Not only does it lessen the character but is nonsensical and quite stupid.  The only one who comes out of this film looking good is Pilou Asbaek as his Batou was pretty decent, though the writers again messed up a solid backstory - though not so bad this time.

As for the special effects and CGI, these were okay, though not too impressive.  However, the Geisha sequence is really good, as is the arm tearing sequence, and I really like the doctor's eyes and the PA's fingers.which kept in with the original.  Though the fight sequences were a little strange.  In the Geisha fight scene, the Major hangs too long in the air; then in the Bin-Man Puppet fight there are times when his movement through the air doesn't look right, it's as if the harness wasn't working right and they were pushed for time...  The worst thing though is the streets.  I don't mind that they are garishly lit, as this may be the case, it's the huge holographic people throughout.  This wouldn't be too bad if you can figure out what they were selling but they just appear to be people doing... well, not much at all, really.

Since the original films are still available I would strongly recommend you watch them instead of this.  Even Innocence, which is the weakest of the series, is much stronger in story and characterisation.  However, if you still haven't watched the original, why not?  Find yourself a copy, it is a beautiful and intelligent movie.  Something this should have been.  I cannot understand why they did this to something that was so good, to begin with.  Do they know that the saying isn't "If it ain't broke... BREAK IT!"  Well, it goes to show that it doesn't matter how much money you throw at something... if the talent isn't there, or it isn't used to it's fullest potential, then you will usually get a pile of...

Video Nasty - Cannibal Apocalypse

Cannibal Apocalypse

1980

Edmondo Amati Presents / Jose Frade Producciones Cinematograficas S A / New Fida

Almi Cinema 5 / Cinefear / Replay Video / Video Program Distributors VPD

5.25 / 10

What the writers Antonio Margheriti, who also directed, and Dardano Sacchetti give the viewers of Cannibal Apocalypse is a cannibalistic thriller with a twist of zombie fetish... and it works.

While fighting in the Vietnam war Charlie Buckowski and Tom Thompson are captured and imprisoned in a pit with very little to eat.  During a rescue by Norman Hopper a Vietcong falls into the pit; unfortunately for her, the prisoners are ravenous and start to tear her apart with their teeth as they feast.  Once back in the USA all of the team are subject to psychological tests.  Though it's only when Charlie is released that things start to take a darker turn.  As he's trying to kill time by going to the cinema he has the urge to devour the woman in the seat in front of him.  As she and her amorous boyfriend start to make out Charlie leans forward and takes a bite...  Meanwhile, Hopper who was bitten by Charlie during the rescue is starting to feel the hunger too...    Can the apocalypse be stopped before everybody become infected?

However, it's the rest of the pieces which deter from the film.  The acting, on the whole, is above average, even Giovanni Lombardo Radice (Charlie) performs better than he did in Cannibal Ferox.  John Saxon does a more than passable portrayal as Hopper, a man trying to help his friend while trying to resolve the mystery.  There's even a shining light in the shape of Cinzia De Carolis who is brilliant as the blossoming teenager Mary who has a crush on  Hopper.  Even Luca Venantini as Bobby (Mary's younger brother) gives a few good creepy kid scares.  However, it's Tony King's over-the-top acting as Thompson that hinders the film, as well as the actors representing the bike gang, and most of the extra's.

The direction, though above average could have been helped by adding a little more action as well as tension to the atmosphere of the film as the pace of the story is pretty regular throughout, another drawback to this type of movie.  A few iconic shots and differing camera angles wouldn't have gone amiss either.  However, the bad lines in the film actually help to keep the audience unintentionally entertained.  I loved the scene where the cop transforms into a Cannibal and when his superior officer confronts him, while he's devouring a colleagues hand, he says in a caring tone, "My God son, put it down."  Awesome scene.

This is an enjoyable film and I would definitely recommend it to everyone especially if you like Zombies or Cannibals.  This is, in fact, storywise, one of the strongest Cannibal movies made.  Since it doesn't feel like a horror film, as there's not enough eeriness (which is harder to create due to it being shot mainly in daylight) you can enjoy it in the full daylight - no need to watch at night or in the darkness behind closed curtains.  Well worth one viewing, though you may just find yourself coming back to it again... and again...

Nergling - The Video Nasties Scare - Cannibal Apocalypse

Movie Review - Ghost In The Shell: Innocence

Ghost In The Shell: Innocence

(2004)

Bandai Visual Company / Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Dentsu Music And Entertainment / ITNDDTD / Kodansha / Production I G / Studio Ghibli : Bandai Entertainment / DreamWorks Home Entertainment

7 / 10

This sequel doesn't come anywhere near the original in either story, atmosphere, artwork, or provocativeness.  From the onset, the viewer is slammed with a philosophical quandary, this is given by the cyber-coroner and feels so out of context that it appears forced.  Whereas, in the original, it was subtly woven throughout the film and its context. You just don't get that here.

I don't know if this is Disney's influence at work...  The first film was a little convoluted, though, with a little brain power you could figure it out.  For "Innocence" they give it to the audience in black and white.

Then you have the appearance of digital artwork, fused and mixed with the more original.  For most of the time, this works, though it does have less effect on building atmosphere as does the setting and direction of the scene.  The worst scenes containing digital art are the cars driving down the street.  The street backgrounds are dark with a mat lustre, howbeit, the cars are ultra shiny bright metallic.  The reflections flowing over the surface of the car doesn't tally with their surroundings.  This draws the viewer out of the story to register the imperfection of the scene, this hurts the movie as you want your viewer to feel as though they are apart of the story and not a third party just watching.

The story was a nice follow-up, even though I don't think is was told all that well.  Something is happening to the sex-bots!  For some reason, they are malfunctioning and killing their owners and whoever's in the vicinity before committing suicide.  Section Nine is called in as this could be an act of terrorism since robots cannot kill humans or themselves.

Under better hands, this could have been as great as the original film had they decided to entwine the philosophy, the mystery and thriller elements, and mood and ambience into the story and artwork instead of segregating them and lessening the power of the piece.

Worth watching if you've seen the original but be warned it's not as good.

Movie Review - The Fly

The Fly (1958)

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

9 / 10

"As God is my witness I saw the thing!"

I had forgotten how good this film is.  The last time I saw this flick was so long ago it was on a black and white television.

What you have here is a solid science fiction film with elements of thriller and horror thrown in to keep you entertained.  Right from the start, the story of an experiment in teleportation gone horrifically wrong hooks you and pulls you in with a scene where our scientist has been squashed to less than a pulp by an industrial metal press, and it looks like his wife may be the killer.

The beauty of this movie is that it starts out as one thing, a thriller, and transforms gracefully into another, science fiction.  This transformation in done beautifully thanks to a great writer, George Langelaan who wrote the story and James Clavell who scripted the screenplay; combined by great direction from Kurt Neumann and the excellent acting of Vincent Price, Patricia Owens, and Herbert Marshall.

Patricia Owns as the wife of the scientist, Helene Delambre does a good portrayal of a woman on the verge of madness...  Did she kill her husband?  What was her reasoning?  Why is she so obsessed with flies?

Vincent Price is always so good and is no different in his role as the brother to the scientist, Francois Delambre, who has never married due to his love for his brother's wife; though he loves his brother more so keeps his distance.  Though all the evidence point to her being the murderer of his brother, Andre, he fights for her innocence as he cannot believe she is guilty of such a heinous crime.

Then there's Herbert Marshall who plays Inspector Charas, who sees things in black and white and doesn't deter from the line of the law.  Even after Helene tells her story, he cannot believe it and thinks that she is mad.

So now you have to watch the movie to see the outcome of this dilemma.

If you've already seen the David Cronenberg remake then I would still recommend this as even though the "main" premise is the same the rest of the story is completely different and I believe the original story is stronger.  There isn't a lot of horror in the original version, though the scene with the meowing cat, Dandilow, is truly haunting and sent a shiver or two up my spine.

You should watch this movie at least once in your lifetime.