I've Seen It

Yesterday I came across a curious sight on Carnaby Street, London. It was a Santa locked in a cage.

Closer inspection proved this was the case and that it was in fact for sale – £85k plus tax.

I picked up an interesting flyer nearby which had more information on this display. It led me to a website where I saw possibly the year’s most awesome film trailer – Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale.

I’m thinking it’s a cross between The Thing and Miracle on 34th Street! Head over to http://santa4sale.com/ and check it out.

This is the third Australian film I have caught at the cinema this year, not only is it my pick of the three (others being Red Hill and The Last Clinic), but quite possibly my film of the year. A big thanks to Little White Lies and Grolsch that I was able to catch the film this year, the official release date at the moment is February 25th 2011.

Animal Kingdom is the real deal. Winner of Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury prize. It’s a dense, gritty, hard story. Following a criminal family struggling to survive in the face of a changing society. The politics and dynamics within the family unit came across to me as being similar with a family lions out in the wild. This imagery was, I felt, reinforced in a couple of family scenes, the powerful soundtrack and the performances of the cast.

There are excellent performances all round, three in particular are the central character J, a young boy who begins as a reactive participant to events. The creepy paranoid uncle Pope who is the leader of the criminal element of the family. As well as Detective Leckie played by Guy Pierce, who adds a solid backbone to the story. Amongst all these great performances stands one. Head and shoulders above the rest, that of the Grandmother. She really powers through and effectively carries the last 3rd of the film.

The soundtrack adds a real sense of menace which simmers in the background of the film. You get sucked into the world the director has crafted in the first scene and don’t come back up for air until the end.

This a great film, it’s gritty, violent and sad. It packs a punch right from the start and doesn’t let up at all.

Watch this film people!

Those top folks over at Bleeding Cool have gone mental and are giving away a pair of tickets to a preview (a whole 2 weeks before release) of the sequel to the 1982 film Tron.

Tron: Legacy features Jeff Bridges – also in the original, who currently is in red hot form sporting his cool beard as well. All you have to do is tweets/blog the fact that this competition of awesomeness is happening.

Get yourself over to Bleeding Cool blogpost for more details

Hells yeah I wanna get some of that action!

Don’t miss out on this competition folks, “On the other side of the screen, it all looks so easy.”

When I came away from the cinema my mind was literally blown away, I spent the evening going over the events of the film in my head. That night I think I must have had some of the most vivid dreams of my life. In the morning I realized that I had experienced true cinema, it had made me question the nature of reality itself. That was 10 years ago… That film was Memento. Fast forward to 2010 and I have watched Inception, and I have to say I’m a little underwhelmed.

Great effects, acting was convincing enough. I did feel the story moved a little too quickly to actually take in any real characterisation. I did love a particular moment which I personally felt was pure Blade Runner.

I wasn’t taken in by the whole dream within a dream device. I was not fazed at all by trying to work out what was real and what was not, because I’d been there before.

‘There’s something of the night about him’ – This was said about Conservative MP Michael Howard back in the day, I use it here as I feel Nolan has kinda recycled his own stuff by straying so close to Memento territory, kinda like M. Night Shaymalan. I feel in a tiny way it kinda dilutes his previous work.

This is a great film and certainly worth a watch and another to try to piece it together for yourself. Nolan leaves plenty of gaps for spirited debate amongst fans. But my score for this flick will read ‘Its no Memento’

The 80′s action/high concept film is alive and well in 2010. I got the feeling that Tony Scott barely broke a sweat bringing this to the screen. Cannot say the same for audience as the film goes into over drive.

I do have a soft spot for Tony Scott. He knows how to play me. He has a stylish powerful direction which the boy in me cannot get enough of. I first came across his name when I saw ‘Crimson Tide’ (also starring Washington). A quick lookup revealed that I was in fact already a fan – having seen and loved ‘Top Gun’, ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ and ‘The Last Boy Scout’.

If you know his style, then watch this flick as it is presented by the bucket load. In rural Pennsylvania, an incident results in a dangerous driverless runaway train. Now being the US we’re talking hulking beasts of machinery. On the other side of the state, we have Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) as the rookie and Denzel Washington as the old hand – cannot get used to that concept. It’s their first day on the job together and they don’t hit off immediately – you get the drill.

It was a nice touch to have live news reports fill the audience in with the need to know details of the rescue attempt. This left a little more time for characterizations. It’s a shame they didn’t make more of it as he did with Crimson Tide – with help from Tarantino back then.

If you are a Tony Scott fan then watch this as you’ll get what you expect. If you are looking for a roller-coaster of an action flick to just sit back and take in, then this is the film for you.

Keep ‘em coming Tony!