Displaying all 5 Review

• Paul Verhoeven's Total Recalls — for Total Recall
  Written by scottp on 10.05.2010

  Paul Verhoeven's Total Recalls is awesome. The movie is about a taxi driver called Benny who has a dark secret. He works as a space taxi driver on the Mars colony and lives a fairly uneventful life until a seemingly unimportant fare arrives called Douglas Quaid played by the governor of California.

  Quaid asks to go to the titty bar and during the journey through the hitchcockian passages we learn that Benny has a sizable family of 5 children. Benny thinks nothing of it until they meet each other again at the airlock where Benny goes to relax and contemplate life's worries.

  An amazingly tense scene progresses where we learn the awful truth behind Benny's dark secret...

  ** SPOILER ALERT **

  ...Benny only had 4 children to feed! Not since the 'Sixth Sense' movie have I experienced such a powerful plot twist.

  I could go on about the towel scene or the three breasted humanoid but it's a movie you need to experience for yourself.

  In the end I have taken a point away from Paul Verhoeven's Total Recalls as in the credits they refer to the author Philip K. Dick as "Phillip K. Dick" when in fact he only has one 'L' in his name. These sort of things really detract from one's enjoyment of a movie.

  To quote Hauser, get your arse to Mars!

• get to the Chopper! — for Predator
  Written by scottp on 11.05.2010

  Now we are talking! This film has guns, biceps, choppers and long tall sally. Released in 1987 it would go on to win a Saturn award for best music by Alan Silvestri in 1988, the same year that Carlos Salinas de Gortari took office as President of Mexico.

  The plot is concerned with an alien traveller who stops off on planet Earth to collect human skulls. Perhaps for fun or perhaps to fund some kind of galactic drug habit as suggested by the rastafarian hair.

  Director John McTiernan (Die Hard, Rollerball) creates a complex character with the alien- a lone traveller in a confusing and hostile world. We become the visitor, trying to make sense of a world of reds and blues, never seeing the whole picture.

  What lets the film down is when it descends into the usual action sequences. We lose the connection with the alien and sympathize with the indigenous people featuring the wrestler and Arnie Swarzeneggegg.

  Overall this is an engaging and well structured film. It's just a shame the one liners and macho overtones start to overshadow the complex character of the alien.

• I eat Green Berets for breakfast — for Commando
  Written by scottp on 12.05.2010

  If you want to be emotionally moved watched Armageddon. If you want to be terrified watch Troll 2. If however, you want to watch a heavily muscled man push a hot pole of steam through another man's chest then this is the 1985 film for you.

  The plot moves at a breathtaking pace. We learn that a seemingly happy father and daughter live in a countryside paradise. The daughter Jenny wishes to escape to the big city and away from her protective father John Matrix played by Arnoldeneger. Her salvation comes when a group of retired soldiers lead by the Bennet offers her another way of life. John Matrix isn't the type of man to let this happen so goes on a rampage of violence to confront the Bennet.

  Director Mark L. Lester (who would later gain huge industry admiration in 2005 for Pterodactyl starring the irresistible Coolio) never let's the script get bogged down with complex character building or narrative developments. There is no time for such distractions in this movie.

  Some people criticize this film for only catering for the male viewer. They can't look past the tanned, bulging muscles of Arnoldeneger as he sprays bullets from his large weapon or the way the Bennet wears his moustache and chain mail vest with such pride. This film is about men being men, real men doing whatever it takes.

• Oingo-Boingo! — for Forbidden Zone
  Written by scottp on 15.07.2010

  WHAT. THE. FUCK. I think this will be most peoples thoughts after watching this movie. The official tag line is "A chaotic musical fantasy" and that really does not explain anything. There is no point in me discussing the frog headed butler or the teacher who controls the class with a tommy gun. Maybe the Mystic Knights of the Oingo-Boingo would interest you? You have to watch this for yourself and if you can go along with the ride and not look for a hidden meaning then it's well worth watching. Where it really shines is in the music - a fantastic collection of songs by Danny Elfman and in the visuals, a mix of animation and live action.

• Micmacs — for Micmacs à tire-larigot
  Written by scottp on 20.07.2010

  I think Jean-Pierre Jeunet is one of the best film makers of the last 20 years. A writer and director who makes films exactly how he imagines them and his enjoyment and passion in film making really shines through everything he puts on screen. If you have a look at my top films list you'll see his 1991 movie Delicatessen , one of the most inventive and creative films you'll likely see. The city of lost Children and Amelie further cemented his talent as a film maker.

  His latest movie, Micmacs (Micmacs à tire-larigot) will be familiar to anyone who has seen his previous work. The use of vivid colour and imaginary set designs are a perfect stage for the quirky characters that inhabit all Jeunet movies.

  The story follows Bazil's search to get revenge against an arms manufacture who was responsible for the death of his father and the bullet currently lodged in his skull. On the way he befriends a group of oddballs including a maths genius, a human cannonball record holder and a contortionist. They work together using each persons talents in a series of highly creative and witty set-ups to bring the company to justice so Bazil can get his revenge.

  A fantastic movie that is a joy to experience and comes highly recommended.