Paranormal Activity – The Marked Ones
I love horror movies but, to be honest, the last decade or so has been reasonably devoid of decent horror flicks. Then along came Paranormal Activity which reminded filmmakers that scary movies are more about suspense than gore, blood and detailed monsters. Love them.
So here are some clips of the upcoming latest PA movie.
Inside Llewyn Davis
What’s it about?
A week in the life of a struggling artist trying to make it in the folk music scene of 1961 set against a backdrop of winter in New York.
What did we think?
Elizabeth says: Interesting but not accessible. There are some really lovely moments here but that’s all they seemed to me: fleeting, disconnected moments. Inside Llewyn Davis feels like awards bait. It wallows so desperately in its own melancholy and is so focused on the insular creative scene that it feels a bit pretentious. It’s like it was crafted purely for the Coen brothers to say “Screw your movie conventions, this is ART and if you don’t like it then clearly you aren’t sophisticated enough.” And everyone else nods in agreement, shouting “It’s brilliant, you’re visionaries!” and pats themselves on the back for being so artsy high-brow wonderful. Except me. Bah humbug.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
What’s it about?
While working undercover as a junior analyst for the CIA, Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) uncovers an imminent terrorist attack designed to destroy the US economy.
What did we think?
Elodie says: If you blink, you’ll probably miss something. And once you’ve missed it, good luck trying to keep up with the plot. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is fast-paced, action-packed and topical, drawing on issues such as 9/11 and global economic instability for emphasis. At times, the action scenes could be from almost any spy drama. However, Pine meets expectations in a polished performance – he’s shed Captain Kirk and taken on shades of Jason Bourne. Worth seeing, even if only for Keira Knightley’s gawky American accent.
47 Ronin
What’s it about? A Hollywoodisation (I thought I just made up a word, but someone on the internet has already taken credit) of an 18th-century Japanese “national” legend The Revenge of the 47 Ronin.
What did we think?
Casey says: Clearly aimed at an audience that doesn’t like too many words, can’t spell numbers and hasn’t stopped smoking pot since the release of Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure, Ted’s latest romp falls somewhat short of a well-crafted depiction of a compelling Japanese legend.
Flags, costumes, cherry blossoms, traditional architecture, awesome sword fights and cool flippy fabric things are all in this film’s favour. Keanu Reeves, random helpful demons, and awful dialog are not.
Free Birds
What’s it about?
Two turkeys travel back in time to prevent turkeys becoming the main menu piece for thanksgiving.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: This movie will make you wish time travel was possible … so you could go back in time and stop yourself from seeing it. Or go back and stopping the film being made at all.
The script is so badly written it beggars belief. There are far too many ’70s references for grown-ups, none of which are funny. This movie is so bad I can’t even be bothered working in a joke about it being a ‘turkey’. It’s worse than that. Much worse.
Academy Award nominations 2014
BEST PICTURE
“12 Years a Slave”
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Nebraska”
“Philomena”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
BEST DIRECTOR
David O. Russell, “American Hustle”
Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”
Alexander Payne, “Nebraska”
Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave”
Martin Scorsese, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
BEST ACTOR
Christian Bale, “American Hustle”
Bruce Dern, “Nebraska”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”
Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”
BEST ACTRESS
Amy Adams, “American Hustle”
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”
Judi Dench, “Philomena”
Meryl Streep, “August: Osage County”
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“American Hustle”
“Blue Jasmine”
“Her”
“Nebraska”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Before Midnight”
“Captain Phillips”
“Philomena”
“12 Years a Slave”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”
Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”
June Squibb, “Nebraska”
Julia Roberts, “August: Osage County”
Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi, “Captain Phillips”
Bradley Cooper, “American Hustle”
Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave”
Jonah Hill, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”
BEST ANIMATED FILM
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Ernest & Celestine”
“Frozen”
“The Wind Rises”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“The Grandmaster”
“Gravity”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Nebraska”
“Prisoners”
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Wilkinson, “American Hustle”
William Chang Suk Ping, “The Grandmaster”
Catherine Martin, “The Great Gatsby”
Michael O’Connor, “The Invisible Woman”
Patricia Norris, “12 Years a Slave”
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Act of Killing”Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
“Cutie and the Boxer” Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher
“Dirty Wars” Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill
“The Square” Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer
“20 Feet from Stardom” Nominees to be determined
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“CaveDigger” Jeffrey Karoff
“Facing Fear” Jason Cohen
“Karama Has No Walls” Sara Ishaq
“The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life” Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed
“Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall” Edgar Barens
BEST FILM EDITING
“American Hustle” Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
“Captain Phillips” Christopher Rouse
“Dallas Buyers Club” John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
“Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger
“12 Years a Slave” Joe Walker
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“The Broken Circle Breakdown” Belgium
“The Great Beauty” Italy
“The Hunt” Denmark
“The Missing Picture” Cambodia
“Omar” Palestine
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
“Dallas Buyers Club” Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews
“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” Stephen Prouty
“The Lone Ranger” Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny
What’s Popular
10 Cloverfield Lane
What’s it about:
After waking up in a cellar after a car accident, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is told that the surface of the Earth isn’t habitable. However, her trust in her saviour, Howard (John Goodman), is shaken when circumstances take a turn for the worst.
What did we think:
Nick Bleeker says: An utterly thrilling and claustrophobic debut from Trachtenberg who keeps everything extremely precise and in-check. Goodman takes the film by the scruff of the neck and drops an MVP-level performance. I recommend you go into this cold for an infinitely more satisfying experience.
Triple 9
What’s it about?
Under a city’s dark underbelly, the Russian mob extort a crew of ex-military into an impossible bank heist. Everything goes right, until everything goes wrong.
What did we think?
Stephen Scott says: Even with 90 minutes of jaw-clenching unnervingness and 25 minutes of smouldering acting there’s just one small problem. There’s no actual ending. There’s a plot, some twists, but no resolution. You leave the cinema with a feeling of dread.
If you’re happy to watch a movie filled to the brim with tension but no resolution, go see it. Otherwise you should …
SEE? See what I mean?
Zoolander 2
What’s it about?
After a devastating accident, soon after the conclusion of the last film, Derek Zoolander went into hiding from society. But when Billy Zane delivers an invitation for him to be in the biggest fashion show in the world, Zoolander decides to get his life back together, with a little help from his old friend, Hansel.
What did we think?
Francesca Percy says: The key to enjoying this film is to lower your expectations – it had little to no chance of matching the genius of the first film. It is, however, a nice homage. There are enough genuine laugh out loud moments to keep you engaged, some fun cameos and enough of a plot to tie it all together. But let’s all hope they don’t do Zoolander 3.
Deadpool
What’s it about?
A wise-cracking former Special Forces operative turned mercenary is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, leading him to adopt the alter ego Deadpool.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: For a non-family friendly movie, Deadpool is surprisingly gleeful. Sure yes, there’s lots of gruesome violence and full frontal nudity but the laughs are nearly non-stop. Fans of the comic Deadpool will love the irreverent and self-referential Wade Wilson who alternates between breaking the fourth wall and breaking faces in what could be the most faithful comic book adaptation yet.
It’s not a perfect film – for a character determined to subvert the paradigm the movie is surprisingly formulaic, there’s no love at all for the representation of Colossus and the talented Morena Baccarin morphs from a fascinating independent character to a damsel in distress – but the unrelenting humour and action more than compensates.
Make sure you pay attention from the very start and read every word of the opening credits.
Editor's Choice
10 Cloverfield Lane
What’s it about:
After waking up in a cellar after a car accident, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is told that the surface of the Earth isn’t habitable. However, her trust in her saviour, Howard (John Goodman), is shaken when circumstances take a turn for the worst.
What did we think:
Nick Bleeker says: An utterly thrilling and claustrophobic debut from Trachtenberg who keeps everything extremely precise and in-check. Goodman takes the film by the scruff of the neck and drops an MVP-level performance. I recommend you go into this cold for an infinitely more satisfying experience.
Triple 9
What’s it about?
Under a city’s dark underbelly, the Russian mob extort a crew of ex-military into an impossible bank heist. Everything goes right, until everything goes wrong.
What did we think?
Stephen Scott says: Even with 90 minutes of jaw-clenching unnervingness and 25 minutes of smouldering acting there’s just one small problem. There’s no actual ending. There’s a plot, some twists, but no resolution. You leave the cinema with a feeling of dread.
If you’re happy to watch a movie filled to the brim with tension but no resolution, go see it. Otherwise you should …
SEE? See what I mean?
Zoolander 2
What’s it about?
After a devastating accident, soon after the conclusion of the last film, Derek Zoolander went into hiding from society. But when Billy Zane delivers an invitation for him to be in the biggest fashion show in the world, Zoolander decides to get his life back together, with a little help from his old friend, Hansel.
What did we think?
Francesca Percy says: The key to enjoying this film is to lower your expectations – it had little to no chance of matching the genius of the first film. It is, however, a nice homage. There are enough genuine laugh out loud moments to keep you engaged, some fun cameos and enough of a plot to tie it all together. But let’s all hope they don’t do Zoolander 3.
Deadpool
What’s it about?
A wise-cracking former Special Forces operative turned mercenary is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, leading him to adopt the alter ego Deadpool.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: For a non-family friendly movie, Deadpool is surprisingly gleeful. Sure yes, there’s lots of gruesome violence and full frontal nudity but the laughs are nearly non-stop. Fans of the comic Deadpool will love the irreverent and self-referential Wade Wilson who alternates between breaking the fourth wall and breaking faces in what could be the most faithful comic book adaptation yet.
It’s not a perfect film – for a character determined to subvert the paradigm the movie is surprisingly formulaic, there’s no love at all for the representation of Colossus and the talented Morena Baccarin morphs from a fascinating independent character to a damsel in distress – but the unrelenting humour and action more than compensates.
Make sure you pay attention from the very start and read every word of the opening credits.