I have been anticipating this film since i had saw the trailer, then i was let down by Blockbuster as they didn't have it to rent so i looked in the Lovefilm catalogue and they didn't have it either so i was stuck in limbo. i sure as hell wasn't paying for it from HMV for above £10.
So cut to couple months later it was available on Lovefilm. Does the anticipation pay off for this film the answer is Yes!
Okay don't get me wrong this is not a fantastic film it is however a fun film.
The script is pretty good with a revenge story line, all revolving around a small town and the blacksmith.
There is no real stand out scenes or moments in the film however there is one character that i loved more then the others and that is Jack Knife who is played by Russell Crowe and would not mind a spin off film for him. The Gemini twins was great would liked to have seen more off them
Like i said no real stand out action scenes i would have thought there would have been more fight scenes but instead we got more quality fights with unique weapons.
Considering this was Rza first directors debut its a solid start and will happily watch some more of his work. The fact that Tarantino's name was on this probably would have made people to watch this more then if it was just a straight to DVD film.
I recommend this film for a fun relaxed feel not a serious watch so please enjoy, if your not sure watch the trailer.
Set in the kingdom of Ehb, the story follows Farmer (Jason Statham), who was adopted by his village. When Farmer's wife, Solana (Claire Forlani), and his son leave to sell vegetables at the town of Stonebridge, Farmer's farm is attacked by creatures called Krugs. With the help of his friend and neighbor Norrick (Ron Perlman), he travels to Stonebridge where his wife and son are. Before he arrives, the Krugs, controlled by the wizard Gallian (Ray Liotta), kill his son and capture his wife. Farmer, with the help of Bastian (Will Sanderson), his brother-in-law, and Norrick sets out to find and rescue his wife. The King's nephew Fallow (Matthew Lillard) is conspiring with the wizard Gallian to take over the kingdom led by King Konreid ('Burt Reynolds' )
So where to start on this disastrous film, I struggle to think of any good things to say.
The cast in this is pretty big with Jason Statham, Ron Perlman, Ray Liotta, Mathew Lillard and Burt reynolds.
This was Jason Statham's way into the fantasy genre and you will also find it currently his last. The man cant do fantasy his acting skills don't do well here he far to serious and not believable as a warrior or adventurer. You can kind of see why he sticks to all the hand to hand fighting films ect as its outside of his skill.
Now to the man i have lots of respect for Ron Perlman this is the type of film I expect to find him in as this is not his first B type movie. He is made for this genre of films and find him to be great into these types of roles generally out shining everyone else.
The film is made after a video game series so it has lore to follow and i cant comment on if it follows the story to that of the game as i never played them.
However it does have a Lord Of The Rings vibe to it and could havet rode on it cape tails but it didn't.
CGI in this film is terrible and all looks like it is shot on green screen. Action scenes look pants and very fake and some of the dialogue just takes you out of the film.
The antagonist in this film is Ray Liotta who plays a evil warlock type character whilst he is not a believable warlock magic type of person he does play the bad guy very well in any film but here still not so much.
In what kind of film does the evil warlock seduce a wizards daughter, how can she be so dumb as if she didn't know that her father had a nemesis. ITS DUMB!
Budget for this film was about 60 million and it has grossed about 4 million which makes this a big flop which does make you wonder how on earth it got a sequel.
This whole film is dumb and can not recommend this to any one unless you want them to suffer.
In the name of the king 2 : two worlds
The plot
Granger - a warrior in medieval times - is sent on a quest to fulfill an ancient prophecy. Venturing through the now war torn Kingdom of Ehb, he teams up with an unlikely band of allies with the goal of slaying the leader of the "Dark Ones". Fighting against all odds, they must free the land from the grasp of the evil tyrant Raven and save the world.
Hmmmm where to begin if a sequel film has time travel in it then its doomed from that basic fact however if no one from the original film is in it and it stars Dolph Lundgren it too is doomed.
The one thing this film did better then first film was it didn't have much CGI in expect for the crap dragon and it looked like they actually shot on site or used sets.
There is no big names in the cast except Dolph so no great performances, the dialogue again is bland and where it is a time travel/portal film the use of modern language being used in a mystic world (trope).
The not so hidden twist is that the bad guy was the one who sent him on the quest.. dum dum dum. its a very short lived film with no real meaty juicey part of the story any where and the final fight is pathetic.
The only real connection to both of these films is the lead character is the heir to the kingdom and they just dont know it. Other then that you would not believe they were in the same world.
The budget for this is 4.5 million I can't say how much it grossed as cant find it however the budget for this is what the last one roughly made, which i had to chuckle at.
Just to give you all the head up expect a third film god knows how or why but know this he or she will be heir to the throne. SHOCKING right?
This book was a great read it focuses on all aspect of his life and some of his work.
This is his advice book for us.
Some of the stuff he talks about is the ideas for his films and working with his peers and the big cooperation that brought his first film and other indie film makers Miramax.
The Miramax chapter is quite interesting giving you more insight into the world of film business and how they operate.
You know how cool you think some actors are well there is a nice chapter on Bruce Willis and you might change your opinions about him after it.
Its hard to think that even big time directors lose inspiration and creativity well this sir did but he bounced back after he was inspired by hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and his life's work. Fair play to him it shows that we all are inspired by different people.
A fantastic chapter was about his film Red State and how he got investors to back this movie and distributed it himself by selling rights to V.O.D and other companies and touring around the U.S and screening and do Q.A. This had never really been done before and was a big rick to take but it paid off. The film is pretty good too by the way,
Have you heard the story about when Kevin got thrown off a plane well in you haven't your in luck cause that's included too with is humiliation.
Most of the stuff in the book you would probably already know if you are a fan of his and been following him for a while or even listening to his podcasts which he has many.
Kevin has always been very vocal and passionate about his wife and child well they both get their own small chapter which shows his love for both, showing not only is he a business man but also a caring family man
The book is a thanks for fans and even if your not a fan if it still read it you may change your opinion about him.
I will always admire this man for his film, books and podcasts efforts and he is an idol to me and goes to show that if you put your mind and will to anything that you can achieve it.
What can i say after the last superman which was shocking i went into this with a open mind. So its a basic origins story of how superman came to be.
The women i went with were very excited to see Henry Cavill in a skin tight suit and they were not disappointed cause the first few scenes with him in are him topless.
So the film starts on Krypton as you would expect and it goes in to fine detail with why the planet is breaking up and why they need to send Kal-el off to earth they spend a good 15 minutes on the planet giving you a feel for their home planet and the technology they have. It was nice to see Krypton as i have no idea how it would have looked as it was never really portrayed in the other films.
We then follow Clark Kent around going from place to place saving people and trying to blend into a normal life that he wanted as this goes on we get plenty of flash back scenes with life lessons from his parents.The flash back scenes are very cut and paste but i wouldn't expect much else from Zack Snyder.
We also see him struggle as a kid with his powers which is another thing we haven't seen before which i appreciated as a nice touch.
I wont go into the story too much but its basically an alien invasion and humans realising we aren't alone in the universe. Its was good to see how the trusts builds between superman and the army as neither trust each other at the beginning. Its a classic story of to save a race you have to kill a race.
The costumes in this are fantastic love the armour with the Kryptonians wear, as is Superman's suit very cool.
Henry Cavill's superman is fantastic he pulled it off very well and it was nice to have a Clark Kent which isn't clumsy ect to hide his identity.
I found that we didn't really the Daily planet in the film as Perry white was not an important part of the story and we end up following him for a few scenes which we didn't need. As for Lois Lane yes she works there but she could have easily been a freelancer who was trying to sell the story to the daily planet.
The film is very long about 2 1/2 hours it probably could have been edited down and got rid of some of the flash back scenes if you ask me. The music levels were too high in my opinion and a lot of music to help build drama and tension. I never once felt threatened by the antagonist or in real danger it lacked suspense and thrills for me.
One of the big positives of this film is NO Kryptionite in the film and we see a weakened Superman on a space ship which is explained as the breathing system is from their home world which meant that it had kryptionite in. Another thing this film doesn't have is Lex Luthor which is great after the last film but he wasn't completely forgotten as we see a Lexcorp truck. Remember in the original films there was a big ice place called the fortress of solitude where there isn't one any more just a space ship he learns his background stuff from and a plot point too.
The fight scenes were very good and not boring at all good to see him fight with other people with speed and strength that he has. Was nice to see a fight scene with out any slow-mo scenes too.
Trivia: the word superman is only used 3 times
Overall thoughts is it ok not amazing like the Batman reboot could do with losing a few scenes.
6 out of ten
The synopsis
A bunch of people go to the mountains to film a porn film however when Ron Jeremy dies an alien takes over his penis and goes on a killing spree.
Yep its terrible. a friend from hisandhersmovieblog lent it to me as i do like to watch B movies.
This however is suppose to be a comedy horror thriller and it is non of then the horror isn't there no build up or suspense. It sets its self up as a The Thing type of film with no access to help and just the small cabin in the mountains.
There are no funny deaths or to be honest not even that creative deaths.
The acting is appalling no great scenes either the whole film is flat, it amazes me how this got made couldn't even recommend for a laugh at all.
We all know the story of Jack and the bean stalk or do we this film offers a creative twist on to the story and i like it, its a fun fantasy family for everyone including Grandma. Its a light hearted film with humour elements in it.
The synopsis
The ancient war between humans and a race of giants is reignited when Jack, a young farmhand fighting for a kingdom and the love of a princess, opens a gateway between the two worlds.
My thoughts
The cast in this are fantastic with many great British actors and actresses including the lead Nicholas Hoult who delivers a great performance he is a believable underdog, Ian McShane is underused could have done with sing more but the character he was didn't suck you in to liking or caring for. Ewan McGregor is awesome but still feel he is playing a Jedi character his highlight has got to be his crazy hair style. The one character that caught my attention was Bill Nighy as he was the big bad giant he was just a voice actor which meant every time he spoke all i could picture was Davey Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean.
Bryan Singer is the director and as usual he can create an awesome and visual world. hat off to him for this film.
The world and lands that was created was fantastic the giants home land was lovely yet horrid at the same time, as soon as you exited the clouds to be greeted by a big head with water flowing through the mouth was such a nice touch and something i cant forget.
The giants are all unique and you could tell they had fun creating them by personalising them and their characteristics. The giants we see that have names are pretty cool and work quite nicely in to the story of jack very clever to name some Fee Fye Foe Fumm.
One of the things i didn't like was royalty wearing Gold plate armour. as a RPG gamer i find this lame and who wears it, its hideous and impractical surely they could have used something more practical after all they are fighting giants. If there is one person who shouldn't wear armour ever is Ian McShane he just looks weird and not kingly at all.
Overall the film held my attention and i wasn't bored always entertained even if some things stood out. i would recommend this film and i will be purchasing this for blu ray as it was gorgeous.
Ok I know this has been out for a while now but I have only just seen it and I loved it.
Synopsis
After watching their respective partners die, a New Orleans hitman and a Washington D.C. detective form an alliance in order to bring down their common enemy.
I do think however the marketing for it was wrong pushed as a killer vs killer film.
It flows more like a buddy cop movie where a contract killer teams up with a cop. The film flows really well with these two taking dogs and trying to out do each other.The interaction between stallones character and his daughter is good giving you back story throughout the film which makes you appreciate their relation ship. Jason Momoa's character is interesting but i dont think you get much story on him to be honest but his acting is good and a lot better to watch then that Conan film he did.
The other reason this film is great is its more like a B cast movie using a lot of under used actors which I found fantastic like Bobbyfrom Cougar Town and mr eko from Lost.
The action scenes In this are fun and very entertaining and the axe fight at the end was great to watch. I would recommend this film for a nice casual watch however I dont think your other half will enjoy one for the lads.
