October 2005 Archives

Saw II' ..
Runtime: 92m 40s - UK Rated: 18
Tagline: Oh Yes, There Will Be Blood .

Plot Outline
Jigsaw locks a few unlucky people in a booby trapped shelter and they must find a way out before they inhale too much of a lethal nerve gas and die. But they must watch out, for the traps Jigsaw has set in the shelter lead to death also, there are clues given & they must find the connection between each of them to solve the riddle of why they were chosen to be tested.

Overall Impressions:
On a par with the first film last year, certainly not the best film of the year or anything that excessive but definitely worth a view. Its clever, partly predictable but still keeps you on edge & surprises when you least expect it. A good film if you like this genre, I'm not a fan but still fpund it interesting enough. The main thing making this different to other films of this genre is the editing - bravo to the editor! :)

Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' ..
Runtime: 84m 46s - UK Rated: U
Tagline: Something bunny is going on..

Plot Outline
It's 'vege-mania' in Wallace and Gromit's neighborhood, and our two enterprising chums are cashing in with their humane pest-control outfit, "Anti-Pesto." With only days to go before the annual Giant Vegetable Competition, business is booming, but Wallace & Gromit are finding out that running a "humane" pest control outfit has its drawbacks as their West Wallaby Street home fills to the brim with captive rabbits. Suddenly, a huge, mysterious, veg-ravaging "beast" begins attacking the town's sacred vegetable plots at night, and the competition hostess, Lady Tottington, commissions Anti-Pesto to catch it and save the day. Lying in wait, however, is Lady Tottington's snobby suitor, Victor Quartermaine, who'd rather shoot the beast and secure the position of local hero-not to mention Lady Tottingon's hand in marriage. With the fate of the competition in the balance, Lady Tottington is eventually forced to allow Victor to hunt down the vegetable chomping marauder. Little does she know that Victor's real intent could have dire consequences for her ...and our two heroes

Overall Impressions:
I will first say I have never seen Wallace & Gromit before in my life. Now I wonder why. Totally awesome. Worth every shiny penny. Funny, Entertaining & worthy of your time. Don't think you can't watch it because its a kiddy film. Let the kid in you rise again. Enjoy.

.. & there I thought I'd found another 2 & 7 person. Lousy maths is what, losing my touch in my old age. In other news BATMAN BEGUN on dvd :) This has by far been the best news I've had this month. The special features are top notch, not another one of those empty disc 2 with a trailer. Well worth it for fans of the Dark Knight (No, not Hasselhoff, not this time.) .. While jumping up & down with my coat on with no sleeves, yelling POW & Shazzam! .. I realized in that moment of absolute claity that another caped crusader was worthy & not on my DVD shelf. I couldn't wait for the ordering online & waiting for 2 whole days & so I popped into Virgin Megastore & bought "Phantom of the Opera" .. Now I can rest in peace' {after watching it}

Plot Outline
Victor (Johnny Depp) messed up his vows during a wedding rehearsal, and is traveling through the woods, reciting his vows. He stops to rest in the woods,and while practicing, he gets them right and puts his wedding ring on a finger-shaped stick in the ground and says his wedding vows. The stick turns out to be a rotted finger belonging to a murdered girl (Helena Bonham-Carter), who returns as a zombie and insists that she is now Victor's lawfully wedded wife.

Overall Impressions:
The chemistry of Johnny Depp & Tim Burton works a magic every time it would seem, this one is no exception. Its no great news like Shrek perhspa was, but a simple light entertainer which tells a story in a tradtional fashion keeping you entertained throughout. Short & Sweet. Worth a watch.

a life if a Ninja is complex and full of peril, so much to do & no time .. no time! Today was no different, my closest friend tkfidapp1 became my arch nemesis. It was just like an seson finale of 24, the clock was ticking. TK was meant to be in a state of deep sleep hybernation but I could see this wasn't the 'case', for during my training I had learnt there was a difference between the states of hybernation CLOSING & CLOSED. They were similar, an aging process stepping from one into the other, but they were NOT the same.

[beep beep beep] .. The clock ticked some more & the time remaining to investigate was little. If something wasn't done about this soon then an FAIL state was inevitable, I had seen something like this before & it wasn't pleasant, it would have meant sacrifice, time money, bread, badminton, even blood!!!

After looking through every street, every crowd, we found who was holding back in hope to fail us, a traitor, his name was FLEX, nobody knew his full name as is the code of a ninja, rumour is there was an underscore in there somewhere. He was repeating events in such a way that the remaining soldiers believed time was not passing, we could see otherwise using the power of pstacks spells & herbal tea, in the climax of this adventure there was a battle to the death as we killed FLEX & the remainder then carried on with their routine actions. Racing against time in pure Jack Bauer fashion with only seconds to spare the town of tkfidapp1 was saved by reaching full blown hybernation.

Serenity' ..
Runtime: 119m 16s - UK Rated: 15
Tagline: The future is worth fighting for.

Plot Outline
Set 6 months after the last episode of the TV series Firefly, the crew of the Serenity led by Captain Malcolm Renolds (Nathan Fillion) is getting desperate. They have lain lower and lower to protect their doctor, Simon Tam (Sean Maher), and his telepathic traumatized little sister, River (Summer Glau), from the Alliance, whom he rescued her from a year earlier. This has made getting jobs harder and now they are desperate. The plot unveils why River is sought by the alliance with such eagerness. What she knows & what is to be done about it. As the Captain says: "They aim to misbehave".

Overall Impressions:
The chemistry of the crew & the humour in dialogue is worth a special mention. Joss Whedon knows how to write & direct. We knew that when he worked such a scope within the TV world. His capability is beyond that & this film certainly showcased here. You don't have to know anything about the TV series to get into this film. Everything you need to know is explained in enough detail for you to thorough;y enjoy this film. Having seen the series I knew the characters a little better, but that was the only advantage, It still manages to take a mighty step up from TV to movie standard. A lot more happens. A lot more is at stake. A lot more is explained. Overall the whole package is a lot more!

Considering me amongst many thousands thought the series kicked ass, this one is an absolute winner. Somebody who saw it before me messaged me saying it was on par with Batman Begins, to which my immediate thought was that is quite a statement. However I agree, it has everything the fans would want & is a complete package for those who know nothing of it. Brilliant!! An absolute must watch!

Seems like everyone hated The Punisher except me & my fanboy crew. I really liked it. Yes it had an ample suplly of cheese served with it, but I had chips too.

The Punisher wasn't a HUGE box office hit. As a matter of fact it only made $33 million domestically and $54 million world wide. Considering the film cost $53 million to make and market... and they at least made $1 million in profit.

With such a small margin I'm surprised that the studio has officially confirmed it's decision to go ahead and make The Punisher 2 ... but very happy. :D

And the best news is that it's NOT going to be a direct to DVD profect either. The good folks over at HNR give us this:

"During a webcast at the Thomas Weisel Partners Consumer Conference in New York City, Marvel Entertainment vice chairman Peter Cuneo said that The Punisher 2 will be in theaters late next year."

Not Vengeance - PUNISHMENT!!!!

ORANGE WEDNESDAY:  Howl's Moving Castle' ..
Runtime: 119m 2s - UK Rated: U

Plot Outline
Young Sophie Hatter is cursed by the Witch of the Waste, and turns into an old hag. Ashamed of how she looks, she flees into the hills where a moving castle roams the hills. It is said to belong to the young and handsome wizard Howl, who has a bad reputation. Within the castle, Sophie befriends the fire demon Calcifer who promises to help her become young again. One catch, she must help Calcifer to be free of Howl, and Calcifer cannot tell her how. However, Sophie agrees to stay and try and find out about the contract through other ways. Still, Howl can see that Sophie is under a spell (like Calcifer can) and falls in love with her for who she is and not what she looks like. Sophie manages to bring life to the moving castle, and help Howl to face his former tutor, Madam Sulimen & forgive the spell cast upon her.

Overall Impressions:
An impressive film, with Christian Bale as Howl & Billy Crystal as Calcifer the voices really bring life to the film. I would be interested in catching it in its original language though to see how different it feels. It has the same surreal yet fantasy enigma as Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) by the same director, which won an Oscar a few years back. Having thoroughly enjoyed this I will say its pace was a little slow and its way of not clearing up questions that are raised by the screenplay is an acquired taste & may not be palatable to an average viewer. Chilldren however will love it as they're far more open-minded and don't expect answers when none are to be had.

ORANGE WEDNESDAY:  Four Brothers' ..
Runtime: 108m 53s - UK Rated: 15
Tagline: They came home to bury mom ... and her killer!

Plot Outline
After their adoptive mother is murdered during a grocery store hold-up, the Mercer brothers--hotheaded Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), hard-edged Angel (Tyrese Gibson), family man and businessman Jeremiah (André Benjamin), and hard rocking Jack (Garrett Hedlund) reunite to take the matter of her death into their own hands. As they track down the killer, they quickly realize that their old ways of doing business have new consequences. Its not as predictable as you might think, not throughout anyway.

Following the plot I found the first hour dragged on and there was little leading to the main crux of the plot. The inevitable loss of one brother was the only gripping moment for me & I found it came far too late. Wahlberg played a reasonable thug, but the rest of the cast were better suited for their roles. Josh Charles stoof out amongst the others as the genuine cop. The climax threw a couple of suprises but nothing to make up for that first hour.

Overall Impressions:
An average fare - not a waste of just under two hours but not far off. Good direction, reasonable performances, bad screenplay. Doesn't keep you gripped throughout as it perhaps should with a few loose ends.

.. or wanderland' Not too certain which is more appropriate. Once the two departed I slept for 24 hours straight. My head hasn't been the same since, but I manage to maintain that 1-2-3 sm:)eeee! After all if there is something I do well, apart from wander & wonder its my poker face. So I discreetly filled my time with a visit to the junction el-clap de-ham. Nice area comparing to the city of wo-king. Awaiting the final bits & bobs to converge on that Leicester sale. After which a new search begins, so far areas that interest are Clapham, Wimbledon, Ilford & Guildford. Further investigation pends. Anyhowz I met Alice in Wonderland & we drank tea. It was pleasant & stabilised my thought processes .. tho some update queues may have warped :) This was all Sunday .. Jus got round to blogging it'

So after a week of long & late shifts, I had a visit from the farmer & the princess on friday night, you honestly wouldn't believe the two have only met twice. Its good to see close ones get on so well. The usual Pizza arrangements were made & a long interesting conversation followed. Many thoughts to dwell on, many things unsaid due to inappropriacy, the usual throwing of words, a bit of smoke, a bit of spice & plenty rekindled memories jaded yet refined - but one thing is perfectly clear. I don't like being so distant from my friends. Sure its great catching up but I really felt miserable as soon as they departed about how small a part of their lives I have become. Something I gotta learn to live with I guess, its only going to get worse. Coming up to 8 months in the Southern region of the country & I can't confidently say I have one single friend that I can talk to openly. Well thats the short story ..