Tomorrow When The War Began (2011)

Remember Red Dawn back in the mid 80's? Thought not, well this was a bonkers movie about the invasion of the USA by the mighty Soviet Union and a group of High School kids single handed battle with those damn Commies, daft silly fun but entertaining.

Well fast forward nearly three decades and we get this, which is very similar but is actually based on a series of books and the action and oppression is now set in Australia.A group of school friends go on a weekend trip away from it all, when they return they realise the Country has been invaded by an un-named Country (North Korea?) and their family and friends have either been killed or 'imprisoned'

Minus points first, well this is one cheesy movie, the end credits in particular, the dialogue's pretty wooden, but on the plus it's quite humorous at times and the action is as good as some Hollywood blockbusters.

Likeable, but largely forgettable.

*****

Let Me In (2010)

I Spit On Your Grave, Last House On The Left, Dawn Of The Dead, Quarantine, Halloween, Friday 13th,the list of Hollywood horror remakes grows by the year, and if they're not remaking an 80's 'nasty', they're doing the same to a foreign language film, be it Japanese (The Grudge, Ringu) or Spanish ([REC]),now to add to the list, is a remake of the excellent Swedish vampire flick 'Let The Right One In'.

Instead of a Stockholm suburb the film is relocated to New Mexico but the 1980's setting is wisely kept.The two leads Kodi Smit McPhee (The Road) and Chloe Moretz (Kick Ass) are both superb, this adaptation is pretty faithful to the original in plot, tone and pace, but again the question with theses remakes is '"why?".Is it because film-makers feel we can't watch a foreign film and read subtitles, or is it because Hollywood lacks original ideas and finds it easier to plunder the back catalogue of films we might not have heard off or have probably forgotten about?

Yes to all the above I feel.An excellent film as it stands but please make sure you find the time to watch the haunting original.

*****

I Spit On Your Grave (2011)

Unless you've been living under a rock you'll know that this is a remake of the notorious 'nasty' of the same name made back in the late 70's.A lone woman, Jennifer Hills, is tortured, humiliated and raped by a bunch of rednecks, she 'escapes' but is presumed dead......

This movie really is a film of two parts, the first part is really tough going, very brutal and quite ugly as you would imagine, the 'second part' though is where the fun begins, revenge is on the menu and boy does she dish it out!!! Rednecks get castrated, sodomized with shotguns, dunked in acid filled baths and eyed plucked out by hungry crows, YEE HA!

If you're a fan of blood and guts then you'll love it, anyone else should probably stay well clear......

*****

127 Hours (2011)

Director Danny Boyle's no stranger to producing ground breaking movies, stylishly shot, pounding soundtracks, involving plots and great characters, and '127 Hours' adds to his great resume.

The incredible true story of climber Aron Ralston (James Franco) who whilst exploring the isolated canyons of Utah, slips and find's himself pinned to a canyon wall by a boulder.The hours go by, these turn to days, his water is running out, he come's to the realization that the only way to escape will be to cut his own arm off....with a blunt pocket knife.

There are similarity's to the excellent 'Buried' but this is a different kind of film as we experience flashbacks into Aron's past, how he became a selfish 'loner', he makes a video diary, expressing his regrets at not caring for others as much as he should have.Franco is excellent, the scene when he films an imaginary talk show with himself is brilliantly acted and also a great comedy moment.

Don't let the subject matter put you off (yes it will make you wince-the sound effect when he cuts through a nerve!!!!) this is a great film, finely acted and beautifully shot, and in some sort of sense, a feel good flick!

*****

The Fighter (2011)

Based on the true story of Irish/American boxer Mickey Wards unlikely road to a shot at the world light middleweight title in 2000.

Great performances from Mark Wahlberg as Ward and Christian Bale as his troubled wayward brother Dicky, The Fighter is a finely paced and beautifully shot real life Rocky tale, warts and all.

Well paced and never needlessly over dramatic, The Fighter is a fine start to 2011's movie calender.

*****

Dog Pound (2010)

Pretty much a remake of the late 70's British borstal classic 'Scum', this is every bit as hard hitting.All the key scenes from the original are here, the rape/suicide, the initial "who's the Daddy" rise to power (though thankfully none of the dialogue is needlessly replicated) and the riot finale as the inmates anger explodes.

Dog Pound though adds a few original touches, the film is slower paced than Scum, with the violence and tension brought to a boil over a much longer time, the largly unknown cast are excellent, the characters shuffle around, sizing each other up......

Dog Pound was a real 'pleasant' surprise, mature, raw, adult and well acted with a fine sledgehammer final shot.

*****

Grotesque (2009)

An unnamed Doctor kidnaps a young couple and tortures them both physically and sexually for his own twisted pleasure, there, that's the plot, well, what else is there to say?

Well for starters this sicko Japanese torture porn flick makes one of the Saw or Hostile films look very tame, eye gouging, disembowelment, genital mutilation, amputation by chainsaw, this is serious hardcore horror only for those with the strongest stomachs and is quite unrelenting.

Recently the film was deemed so sadistic that is was point blank refused a certificate by the BBFC stating "given the unacceptable content featured throughout cutting the work is not a viable option in this case and the work is therefore refused a classification"

Sick and twisted it is still a well directed film with a suitable grim ending, approach with caution folks!

*****

Saw 7 (2010) aka Saw 3D

Well it's the seventh in the series, episode one was a fine entry back in 2004, but since then it's been pretty downhill all the way, high in gore, but low in plot and interest into anything that happened to any of the odious characters that we have met.

This promises to be the final episode, minus points, well the characters, dialogue and plot is a dull, convoluted and slightly tedious as ever, the plus points are scarce, but the gore is set to 10 and we do get a genuine 'close' to the series.....thankfully.

*****

Buried (2010)

An American truck driver, working in Iraq, wakes up to one of man's greatest fears, being buried alive, he finds a lighter and mobile phone, how can he tell the outside world where he is?

The Film runs in 'real time', there are no outside shots, just a camera fixed on Ryan Reynolds for its 90 minutes running time, this is as far from your typical a Hollywood Summer blockbuster that you could wish and what a stunning piece of cinema director Rodrigo Cortes has achieved.Reynolds is superb, the movie is tense throughout, who has Kidnapped him, can he trust who he is talking to?

One of the great movies of 2010 and packs a sucker punch of an ending that will leave you stunned.

*****

Bonded By Blood (2010)

'Bonded By Blood' is incredibly the third movie (after 'Essex Boys' and 'Rise Of The Foot Shoulders') to be loosely based on the true events of 1995 when three drug Lords were cold bloodedly murdered in Rettendon, Essex.

'Bonded..' offers us nothing new but still is fairly entertaining, ridiculously sweary, violent, tense cockerknee gangster nonsense and some fairly good performances from the cast, especially the value for money hardman Tamer Hassan , the biggest surprise is the non-appearance of Danny 'proper naughty' Dyer!

Like a Big Mac, KFC or clicking 'private browsing' on your web browser whilst the other halves shopping.....a guilty pleasure.

*****

The Last Exorcism (2010)

A Minister agrees to allow a documentary team film his last exorcism as he wants to expose his previous 'work'.Yes it's shaky camera horror time, a giant mix of 'The Exorcist', 'Paranormal Activity' with a finale that has a slight 'Wicker Man'/'Cannibal Holocaust' feel!!!

It's creepy, slow burning and well acted, is the 'subject' Nell (Ashley Bell) really possessed or is this one big hoax, or are more sinister facts about to be uncovered?

At time's terrifying, sometimes a bit silly, occasionally bonkers, this is still worth a punt on a Saturday Balti+beer night.

*****

The Town (2010)

Directed by and starring in 'The Town' is Ben Affleck who's directorial debut was the superb 'Gone Baby Gone', and Affleck betters that with this release, yes it's that good.

A tale of friendship, deceit and bank robberies.The action is high octane, brilliantly shot in the bustling streets of Boston, the drama and acting of the highest caliber, Affleck is excellent. ably supported by a fine cast including Rebecca Hall as Afflecks love interest Claire and Jeremy Renner as his best friend, the slightly psychotic James.With a 2 hour plus running time this film never drags it's heels, top class 'adult entertainment' similar in class to 2006 'The Departed'

One of the must see movies of 2010.

*****

13 (2010)

13 is a remake of the 2005 French/Georgian release 13 Tzameti.A young man desperate for money follows cryptic instructions that he steal from a dead man, the instructions lead him to an underground gambling syndicate where the 'game'.......is Russian Roulette, and there will be only one winner.

To be honest I'd never heard of either films, I don't think the US remake got a UK release but when I saw the cast (Jason Statham, Micky Rouke, Ray Winstone, 50 Cent) I thought it had to be worth a punt.It's a tense, bloody affair, enlightened slightly by a manic performance by Michael Shannon as the 'host' of the event Henry, he stands perched on a step ladder SHOUTING instructions,eyes wild for the entire movie, like Joker without the make-up!

Worth a shot, pun intended.

*****

Hatchet 2 (2010)

You know what you're in for here when after less than 10 minutes some redneck gets throttled by his own intestines until his head literally 'pops' off, then we're straight into a death metal soundtrack and seat belts on people for 90 minutes of corn ball plot/acting and OTT un-rated gore!

This is pure 80's slasher territory, seen 'Friday 13th'? So have the makers of this flick, deformed maniac on the loose in the woods reaking revenge on those who have wronged him, the acting and plot are pretty dire but it's still pretty good late night beer + pizza entertainment with the gore cranked up to 11!

*****

Takers (2010)

A seasoned bunch of bank robbers live out a life of luxury after a successful heist are lured by a friend and ex con to do one more job....the big one.

Plus points, well it's a pretty good cast, The Wire's Idris Elba (with dodgy cockerknee accent), Matt Dillon, Hayden Christensen, Zoe Saldana etc but sadly the movie is one big clichéd mess with mumbling dialogue, seen it all before action set pieces, bodies and bullets fly across the screen including a near finale that would rival a certain scene from 'Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels'...but without the humour and tongue in cheek.

Fairly enjoyable over it's bloated 107 minutes running time but
on the whole, fairly forgettable.

*****