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theterroroutofplace
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Hellboy (2019)
Pales into insignificance
There's actually some stuff to be enjoyed in this film (I particularly enjoyed the Baba Yaga scene) but it feels rushed, messy and lacking direction. The pace is all over the place and the character development takes a back seat. Expect constant exposition and an inability to care about most of the characters. Ian McShane is always great but the writing doesn't even allow him to shine.
I love violent, gorey films but the gratuity of the violence in some scenes during this film feel like they were done in post to push it up above a 15 certificate.
It's a shame we will never get to see what GDT could have done with a third film because that would have been a true passion project.
The Invitation (2015)
Tension driven underappreciated thriller
If you do not enjoy a tension laden thriller then give this film a pass. I saw this on Netflix and decided to give it a go despite middling reviews. Logan Marshall-Green is excellent, his emotional journey centres the film and gives it depth.
The film does a lot with a very simple premise and the whole film being shot on one location.
The film uses its miscellany of characters to show different ways of dealing with death, grief and social discomfort.
I would say the less you know about this film going in the better off you will be.
The Visit (2015)
Creepy yet hacky
I couldn't bring myself to like this movie, no matter how hard I tried. The children were thoroughly unlikeable and the scares were cliché. The blend of horror and comedy which works so well in other films seems jarring as it stumbles around the found footage genre. Conceptually this film would have made a decent TV episode of The Twilight Zone but it feels a little padded out even at the relatively short run time of 90 minutes. There is real tension built in this film but it's discarded with absurdly cheap jump scares. Essentially the comedy in this film feels a bit like a bad dad joke. Worth a punt if you're stuck for a movie but try to watch it with a few friends and maybe involve alcohol.
David Beckham: Into the Unknown (2014)
Adventure Holiday for the super rich
David Beckham and three friends use bikes, cars, planes and boats to traverse a section of the Amazon and visit a native tribe. There is enough here to keep you interested but it doesn't live up to the heights of other adventure travel documentaries. It plays out like a super expensive version of a package adventure holiday.
Beckham proves himself to be a genuinely nice, family focused man, albeit a little dull and vane with regards appearance. His oldest and best friend is among the mates he brings along and he adopts an almost Karl Pilkington attitude to the whole trip, spending most of his camera time moaning about one thing or another. It doesn't really give the impression he appreciates this once in a lifetime trip that he's been taken on. Beckham also talks a lot about not being able to go anywhere without being recognised, I doubt it helps when you're being followed around by a camera crew.
At one stage they have some bike trouble and this is made into a big deal when it appears as though the chain has just slipped off, at worst it's snapped. Hardly trip ending fare, one of his friends is supposed to be a mechanic and I'm sure the support vehicles have spares up to their eyeballs.
A member of his production team seems to be in charge of health and safety on the trip and is quite strict regarding certain elements of the trip but has no trouble with them riding around in t-shirts on highways in the rain...
Overall I would say if you're interested in watching it please feel free but don't go into it expecting the heights of Long Way Round or the charisma either.
Grave Encounters (2011)
A genre done to death...
An average low budget horror flick.
The acting is poor and the special effects laughable. The setting is the only reprisal, although done before much better with the likes of Session 9. Not much originality here though, with PActivity and The Blair Witch leading the way for the found footage genre to boom and pump out several average films like this a year. Fans of the found footage genre may enjoy it but nothing special with regards horror. Some genuinely freaky concepts within although these are overshadowed by the poor acting, the annoying characters and the overly shaky camera work.
Super 8 (2011)
80's nostalgia gone too far?
This film had all the chances in the world. Namely Abrams and Spielberg. The film is shot wonderfully and instantly takes the audience back to the eighties when films were great and Spielberg was king. Abrams has undoubtedly recreated a charm here that is missing from most modern films, although admittedly less successfully than the films it is a homage to (E.T and Goonies). I so wanted it to be great, perhaps to the point where I expected too much from it. However it does contain stellar performances from a few of the cast. Overall the film is definitely worth a watch and who knows in twenty/ thirty years time it may retain some childhood nostalgia for someone but don't make the mistake of going into this film expecting greatness.