Monsters (2010)

9/10

Written & Directed by: Gareth Edwards

Monsters left me with a lot of questions, very few of which were directly related to the film itself. An example of one of these questions is which poster do I attach to this blog? Of my few options, they're just too epic to decide upon easily. As you can see to the right, I made that decision.

The second biggest question was how I felt about the film. I felt it was being torn between 9 and 10. I was feeling that it was definitely worthy of a 9/10, but could see very little reason why it couldn't be a 10/10 instead. To be safe, I stuck with 9.

Monsters is an intriguing film and even more so the more you know about it. The film is actually incredibly low budget. It could even be said that it is the Paranormal Activity of the Sci-fi genre, but slightly more expensive.

The film was shot entirely on location, and shot well too. The film has some of most amazing photography that I have seen in any film. Despite the dark and ominous atmosphere that lingers from beginning to end, beauty is captured in most, if not all, of the shots in the film.

The two main actors give brilliant and captivating performances and share fantastic chemistry with one another. They are the only characters for a majority of the film and they carry the responsibility well, keeping the audience interested, not only with their journey and their destination, but also with their relationship with one another.

What makes Monsters incredibly interesting is that it is an alien film that features very few aliens. The adventure is caused by an alien invasion that took place 6 years earlier. The aliens themselves appear maybe four or five times throughout the movie and, in true Hannibal Lector style, maintain a presence despite minimal screen time.

Monsters is an amazing film and definitely recommended. Brilliant plot brought to life by brilliant performances. The direction by Gareth Edwards is next to flawless, and because of this film, I feel he has a very promising future ahead of him.

Gamer (2009)

7/10

Written & Directed by: Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor

I had a copy of Gamer sitting on my chest of drawers for quite a few months. It had been lent to me by a relative who told me that I absolutely had to watch it. I procrastinated for a long time, dismissing it because I thought it would be an average, unoriginal action. Turns out that I was wrong.

I finally made myself do it and I surprised myself. The first hint that I may actually enjoy the film came when I saw the names Neveldine & Taylor in the opening credits. These were the same guys who blessed my life with the 'Crank' movies. My enthusiam for Gamer had now been lifted.

Gamer delivers some well shot action sequences that made me feel like I was watching a video game, which is the whole point. The plot itself isn't too bad either, I wouldn't nominate it for an Oscar, but it kept me entertained for the length of the film.

Mark & Brian are the perfect team to tackle a movie like this, given their abstract and surrealistic style of directing. I highly recommend Gamer for anyone who is a fan of the Crank films.

NEWS: CLASSIC SCI-FI REMAKES

Quite recently, a good friend of mine refered me onto some very interesting pages on IMDB. Needless to say that once I saw the pages, I got very excited. Two of my favourite sc-fi films are getting remade and although I would normally shake my head at remakes. But I think that these films could do with some rebooting.

First up, in the year 2012, we be seeing...
LOGAN'S RUN
Anybody who knows me well will know that this is one of my most favourite science fiction films of all time. Apparently Ryan Gosling is set to play Logan, and I do love Ryan Gosling. The only thing that concerns me about remaking the film is that with the exception of the acting, I found the original close to perfect. But one way or another, this excites me and I very much look forward to seeing how it turns out.

And after that, in the year 2013...
FORBIDDEN PLANET
This is another that I would classify as one of my favourites, and being as old as it is, it can use a remake, bringing it up to do date with modern visual effects and such.

So there are some things to look forward to over the next couple of years, especially for sci-fi fans everywhere!

Zardoz (1974)

3/10

Written & Directed by: John Boorman

There just aren't enough words in the english language that can help describe not only my feelings towards Zardoz, but also Zardoz itself.

As I write this review, I actually find myself struggling to come up with even one line that begins to explain what I was thinking during the film. I guess I could start with something like "Sean Connery, what were you thinking?"

The plot makes enough sense, not a great amount, but enough to get through the film. This does not mean however the film is any less ridiculous. The acting isn't dreadful, but there isn't a memorable performance in the movie, unless you include Sean Connery's Superman-like underwear. That performance was solid.

It has it's redeeming aspects. There are some stunning visuals such as some of the locations and the way the light sometimes hits the diamonds and crystals at the end are beautiful. These rare and brilliant visuals are outweighed though by the films ridiculous and unnecessary abundance of nudity. For many parts of the movie, I found that I was watching topless women with no plot significance and random and hardly covered orgies. But maybe that is your thing. Some people might want to see that.

I can't complain about the film too much. I admit I knew what I was getting into when I was I was inserting the DVD into my player. I knew I was going to watch an hour and 40 minutes of Sean Connery in a diaper. I knew I was going to see countless Wizard of Oz references (wiZARD of OZ = ZARDOZ). I knew I was going to see pointless nudity. I knew I was going be watching visuals so trippy that I would feel like I was on drugs or would at least think I should be.

Zardoz is memorable, quite possibly unforgetable. It is amazing only if you are a fan of science fiction gone wrong or if you sit there wondering "how do you go from James Bond to this?"

This film is a must see for fans of sci-fi, Sean Connery, bad movies or drug trips. For all others, avoid Zardoz like it was a pack of barely civilized savages running around in their underwear with guns, who seek sacrifices for their thunder-voiced God. If you can't remember that, then remember this; "The gun is good, Zardoz is bad."