More self-inflicted pain.
Taken (**)
that you're prepared to overlook Taken's undercurrent of xenophobia, its nasty gratuitous violence, its redneck paranoia, its implausibilities, and even its relentlessly corny script, is all testament to both Morel's highly skilled directed choreography and Liam Neeson's core performance - but it's still nothing to feel proud about
The Rocker (*)
ignore the synopsis, The Rocker doesn't tell the story of a failed drummer but of a failed musical genre - only marginally less annoyingly than Jack Black, but nowhere near as successfully as the sublime Spinal Tap
The Visitor (**)
a promising story and some great performances are ultimately weighed down by overbearing worthiness: the characters are all far too politically correct and neither do any of the relationships ring true, and it's this approach that finally undermines the film's supposed moral purpose
Righteous Kill (*)
50 Cent's participation makes this confirmed shitness, and neither De Niro nor Pacino have made a decent film for years now, but this manages to plumb new depths in all their careers; any random episode of CSI would be a hundred times better than this irredeemable gubbins
88 Minutes (*)
movie news update: Pacino is looking up at the gutter, having plumbed a lower depth than even the atrocious Righteous Kill
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4 comments:
I read another review of Taken and it sounds like another reworking of Death Wish. Just the dearth of original ideas in Hollywood just proves why I don't go out to see movies anymore. I just don't have the money these days anyhow...
If you can pretend that the villan is not Vinnie Jones (who does not speak a word in the movie) then 'The Midnight Meat Train' is pretty darn good.
Richard, i'm intrigued. I haven't seen Midnight Meat Train since i generally avoid cinematic versions of Clive Barkers writings which all - with the exception of Hellraiser which is an absolutely brilliant film - seem to lack the undercurrent of surreal sex-death-horror that has sadly also also gradually been evaporating from CBs writings over the last somewhat 15 years (my theory is ever since he he stopped tormenting himself and came out of the closet)
Anyways, what i wanted to know is, if you've read the original short-story and still like the film or if you've only seen the film?
I might even give MMT a try...
Hi ea-m,
I am not much of a Clive Barker fan. I go for a lot of the the MR James type stuff as opposed to horror but I love Hellraiser and enjoyed 'Midnight Meat train' a lot. It stands out from all the dross and although it has a lot of CGI it managed to evoke so real terror (in me anyway). The characters are well developed and the script not being brilliant is not bad.
Casting Vinne Jones seems to be the movies biggest mistake. Give it a go, it stands out in times of remakes, recycled plots and teen slashers.
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