Wednesday, 24 February 2016

The Hateful Eight (2015)


Quentin Tarantino’s eighth film (not just setting the historical context, it actually announces it at the beginning of the film) continues his love for the Western. Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, in a similar way to The Good, The Bad and the Ugly; but rather than depicting the dynamic between three main characters, The Hateful Eight tries it with, well, eight. Not as successfully IMO.

A further link with Sergio Leone’s masterpiece is the Ennio Morricone score, which incidentally also links it with The Thing (1982). That’s not all; let’s face it OB’s character is essentially MacReady (Kurt Russell’s character in The Thing) complete with corks hanging from his hat and snow glare sunglasses. Morricone score is generally excellent, but occasionally strays into odd Hammer Horror territory, particularly in the very first shot.

The Revenant (2015)


Wow, just wow! Following on from the critical success of Birdman, Alejandro González Iñárritu presents us with another Oscar-baiting film. I have never seen Birdman, but if the Revenant is anything to go by then the 2014 film must have been tremendous too.

Would you like to know more?

Saturday, 9 January 2016

Waterworld (1995)




So, one of my New Year's Resolutions, well challenge really, is to watch a film relevant to specific dates. Eg, Halloween on Halloween, V for Vendetta on 5th November etc. I fear the hard part will be trying to track these films down.

Just watched Waterworld which I thought was appropriate to all the water in Aberdeenshire just now.

So, here is my list. Any other suggestions for my list would be appreciated.

http://letterboxd.com/filmsrruss/list/significant-dates-2016/

And now my thoughts on Waterworld.

Kevin Costner is Robin Cod, Prince of Waves in Mad Max on water: Beyond the Floodedzone.

Thursday, 17 December 2015

The Force Awakens (2015)


In all honesty, The Force Awakens is probably a better film than A New Hope, I just can’t bring myself to admit it.  Hitting all the same notes as A New Hope, what it has is style, humour and entertainment in spades.  What is doesn’t have is George Lucas dicking about with it, sticking in pointless GG creatures going “Bwaaak” or redundant Hutts, or Rodians that can’t shoot a smuggler from across a bar table!


Would you like to know more?

Sunday, 13 December 2015

Centurion (2010)


Beautifully shot in the Highlands and featuring a solid cast including Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham and David Morrissey; this story of the abortive attempt of the Roman Empire to conquer Scotland promises so much but ultimately falls a few denarii short of an aqueduct.

Would you like to know more?