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Premonition (2007)
Premonition is the perfect name
While the question this film raises, can we stop/alter fate, is an interesting if not original one, it falls a little flat. This question is pretty much answered as it's asked.
The paradoxical problem with the attempt to stop something which you know is going to happen or has happened aside, this is still a pretty predictable film. We know where it's going, we know what's going to happen because, essentially, it already has. We flashback and forward but nothing changes. Therefore we know nothing will.
Sandra bullock was praised for her performance by some but the characters themselves are not particularly gripping or inspiring and knowing the conclusion means you don't really need to sit through the whole film.
On the whole I found it boring and a waste of time. By all means watch it if you wish, but I don't think it's a good film.
Gothika (2003)
A Good horror film
Many horror films from the noughties and beyond are not scary, this one was. While there was a little gore it was not a cheap slasher film. The psychological side really helps. Plenty of jump scares and creepiness makes it a film that did scare me when I watched it.
Though the title is never explained and the ending a little open ended, perhaps leaving it open for a sequel, it is a good film.
The cast is superb and the story better than a lot of ghost stories we have these days. It won't be for everybody but for fans of ghost or horror films that actually has the potential to, if not scare you, at least make you jump. It's a fun one.
Also, if you are a fan of Little Shop of Horrors, the profile of a certain character may ring a bell or two...
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004)
Respectable if predictable
This film is definitely watchable and the cast do a good job. I did enjoy it for the most part. The story itself spends too much time spinning a romance that isn't genuine so it's predictable ending falls a little flat. We're not rooting for the outcome like we are in other romantic comedies because we don't know the characters well enough.
While we get to know Tad ans Rosalee we don't get to know Pete, therefore all we know is the token awkward guy is in love with the heroine but their story is underdeveloped.
Will they work? We don't know of course but with a character we don't know all that well, we don't really care. Many romantic comedies are predictable these days, but I've never rooted for a couple less.
Dracula (1958)
One of the best
Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in a Hammer Horror version of Dracula was almost guaranteed to be good. With a few characters reshuffled a little this keeps the fundamentals well. A little cliche now it was probably fairly original at the time. Mixing the sensual aspects with the horror, this remains one of the best Dracula films. Highly recommend it to everyone, especially Dracula fans.
Scary Movie 2 (2001)
They missed a trick
Watching this as a teen at a sleepover was the only way to watch this film. We were on a sugar high, had been talking for hours and it was late. When you're with your mates and chatting you can take it, any other time it's awful. The jokes are just a mish-mash of gross out toilet humour and sex references. While the first one isn't the best or cleverest film it's mickey take of the source material is funny and well thought out. This just bombards the audience with sex and disgusting jokes.
With House on Haunted Hill, The Exorcist and the haunting as the main source material, this could have been a very funny film, instead it is almost a lower quality rehash of the original. I don't know if it was perhaps rushed, it feels a little rushed, but it is just not on a par with the original. The only thing that I remember making me laugh (at the actual joke from the film, not mine and my friend's commentary) it was the nod to the first film at the end.
I'm sure some will enjoy it, the rest of us will wonder why we bothered.
Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
Great fun
When I first saw this film (at the tender age of 8) all I knew of the Muppets was Sesame Street. I loved this film. Most people know the basic story of treasure island, it's gone from great literature to part of pop culture. Everyone has heard of Long John Silver (played to perfection by the great Tim Curry).
Of course many of the roles are taken over by the muppets, Kermit the Frog as Captain Smollett and Miss Piggy as Benjamina Gunn the most notable. The Great Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat play themselves as companions of Jim Hawkins (the underrated Kevin Bishop).
This is a very enjoyable version of Treasure Island. All though aimed at children of eight and above (I wouldn't recommend it for younger children, there are some dark moments) it is enjoyable for adults too. A feel-good family film.
The cast (both human and muppet) are stellar, they include Billy Connely and Jennifer Saunders. All in all, I highly recommend this film.
John Tucker Must Die (2006)
Way better than expected
Yes, this is a comedy geared towards teens and Yes, It's not a challenging watch but I really enjoyed it! I went into it with very low expectations. I was prepared for lowbrow comedy and a predictable story but I was pleasantly surprised. So the comedy isn't particularly clever but it wasn't stupid or gross out either.
I found this very engaging, it kept my attention and I did enjoy it. Also, the predictable ending didn't happen. I was so happy that the writers didn't go the obvious, easy, predictable. It is still a typical teenage rom-com ending, but not the kind that makes you roll your eyes and wonder why you bothered watching it to the end.
This is good clean fun, watch it when you just want a fun teen flick to wash over you and remember, not a predictable ending. That gives this film serious brownie points.
Vanity Fair (2004)
It's a decent film, it's not Vanity Fair
I confess that I have never read Vanity Fair but I've seen an earlier TV adaptation. As a character, Becky Sharp is deliciously manipulative, devious and cunning. She is unlikeable but, to me, great fun. This film destroys her. In this, as the trailer states, Becky is a woman born with a good heart and no money. In the original, Becky is a woman with no money and a deceidedly evil streak, using everyone for her own gain and caring about no-one else, even her son.
That is not to say this is a bad film. It's definitely watchable and quite beautiful in places. Witherspoon is not the best actress but she does a decent job and has a terrific supporting cast. So by all means, watch it but don't be fooled into thinking you're watching Vanity Fair. While a lot of the main story and characters are from Vanity Fair, the total rewrite of the main character means they should have called it something else. A watchable film it is, Vanity Fair it is not.
Captain Scarlet (2005)
Proof why you should never mess with a classic
I absolutely LOVE Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. I did when I was a kid and I do now. As such I had quite low expectations about this series and it says something when you have low expectations and are disappointed.
Seriously, I could only watch 3 episodes until my self-peservation kicked in and I had to stop. It was just SO BAD!
The CGI, was passable, I'm not a huge fan of CGI cartoons but that's not the issue. I can't remember the storylines so they can't have been that good if they are so forgettable. There were several issues.
One, why is Cloudbase now Skybase? That was unneccesary
Two, Why are Leiutenant Green and Captain Ochre now women? It's not sexism, you had the Captains and the Angels, they essentially had the same job
Three, Why do Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue have love interests? What is the point of that? I am so sick of uneccecary love stories in shows. I think it's called pandering to the masses.
Four, my biggest issue, what is with the accents?! One of the things I loved about Captain Scarlet was that he was English. There were no British superheros when I was a kid, they still are few and far between. Why is he American now? Why? It makes zero sense? They did it to Destiny too! Why does she have to be American? Do Americans have something against the French?
There were other issues too, the awesome song was removed, the dialogue was beyond cringeworthy and the Doctor was completely changed but all in all it was just not on par with the original. So they were puppets with limited movement big deal! Lasted longer than this stupid thing.
People really should leave classics alone. A reboot would have been fine if they had decent writers and hadn't changed so much. There will be those who don't agree with me and, I'm sure, call me petty because of the accents but DUDE! I'm British, don't take my superheros away from me, that is NEVER going to end well!
The Experiment (2012)
Could be worse
While I personally think the acting is good (other reviewers disagree but opinions differ) I think this film was let down a little by the screenplay. The scenes of Mary's descent into madness are overlong. If they had been shorter it would have been better, in reality it's what makes the film a little tedious, you end up just sitting there waiting for that part of the film to be over. It seems a little bit of a random horror film but there was a sequel planned, references to the planned sequel (which I believed has been shelved indefinitely) are in the film and i think the sequel would have probably been helpful in tying up loose ends. All in all this is not the best low-budget film I've ever seen but it is far from the worst! Worth a look if you interested (maybe hit fast forward when the madness scenes start to drag) you may enjoy it, you may not. I personally, think it's passable.
All About Janet (2014)
What can I say? Good film, good cast, bad crew
This is a difficult film to like for two reasons
1. Janet is an unpleasant person
2. The hallucination side is never explained and
3. Although the cast, script and editing are good, they should have got more experienced people to work the cameras. It is clear the editing team had a hard time getting good shots cut together.
This is an interesting and engaging story. Although Janet comes across as cruel, when you think about it you can sympathise to a point. Cheating on her husband, leaving him to sleep in spilt food and ultimately killing him is, of course, vile. Bt she has had to give up her life for him and the stress is just too much. Either way, she seems to get what she deserves, if it is a sad ending.
The cast are on top form, the beautiful Val Monk a very convincing Janet and the rest of the cast equally so. This really is a film worth watching, it is only 12 minutes long but packs in a telling story of what it's like to be a carer and a bit of an emotional punch.
The Little House (2010)
Worth a watch
I was looking forward to this after all the hype and I must say, I was glad I watched it at the beginning, however, with part two I started to get confused. The main story is straightforward, young Ruth being forced to move from her beloved city flat to a cottage in the country right next door to her in-laws after falling pregnant. Postnatal depression causing problems as she struggles to bond with her son as her mother-in-law constantly tries to take over the care of her grandson and convince Ruth that not only is she an unfit mother she is an unfit wife. The first episode was gripping, the sympathy I felt for Ruth drew me in and made me anxious to see how it would play out and also wondering, "Is the mother-in-law really so obsessive and crazy or is it all in Ruth's head?" It left me looking forward to part two and really wanting someone to get her comeuppance, unfortunately it was disappointing. Apart from the fact the second part seemed to throw in a bunch of sub-plots that had no relevance at all and didn't move the story along, I didn't quite get the ending. Did she fall or did Ruth finally snap and push her? While I'm glad the mother-in-law died it was a bit of a cop-out ending and I'm not even sure what happened. While worth a watch and starts off well, the second half really let me down. I'm hoping that the book will be better, as is so often the case
Il fantasma dell'opera (1998)
So very, very bad!
It is unfair to give this movie a rating of one for it does have its moments, though these moments are few and far between. The acting is impossibly bad and the story makes little sense. Oh the main premise is there, a beautiful opera singer catches the attention of a mysterious man who lives under the opera house and a young nobleman who doesn't, but that's about it.
Despite it's appearance on the cover the phantom does not wear a mask, probably due to his lack of disfigurement., instead he was raised by rats. This does not explain how he learned to talk so eloquently or play an organ so well, but perhaps it explains his telekinetic powers (I kid you not) and the fact he cheats on Christine in a scene which will turn your stomach.
While beautifully shot and by the Italian master of horror, this is a film you can miss quite happily, though it does have it's amusing moments. If you do decide to check it out, maybe you're a film studies student, there is one thing I will mention waiting for..the ratmobile!