Film 138/365, Day 150/365 – Clash of the Titans

A great quest with not so special effects.  I remember the original Clash of the Titans as one of my first films and have fond memories of it.  Unfortunately now looking back it isn’t any where near as good as I remember it.  Yes, it’s old so how can I expect the special effects to be great.  Well it came out four years after Star Wars so there are no excuses really.  Ok if you can tolerate the effects!

Synopsis:  Perseus, son of Zeus, goes on a quest to save his girlfriend, Andromeda, from being sacrificed to the Kraken to appease Thetis.  To do this he must visit a trio of witches that share an eye, fight the Gorgon Medusa and much more.  But then Zeus is his father so that may come in useful.

Film 137/365, Day 148/365 – Cocktail

Packed full of nostalgia but does is it as good as I remember?  In a word, no!  Don’t get me wrong it is still good, but it has a few too many flaws for me.  Firstly why would Elisabeth Shue take him back when he makes no attempt to make amends for what he did and his explanation of why he did it was awful and should someone else bet him that he couldn’t sleep with someone else he would have no option but to take the bet!  Good memories, weak story!

Synopsis:  Brian Flanagan has just been discharged from the army and is heading to New York City to make his millions.  There he quickly realises that he has no skills or qualifications, so he enrols on a business course at the college.  To make ends meet he takes on a job at a local bar and soon finds himself enjoying the bar work more than he thought he would.

Film 136/365, Day 147/365 – The Hangover Part II

Same as the first, just a little bit louder and a little bit worse!  By worse I of course mean the situations and events that occur.  The story is almost exactly the same as the first film, just moved from Las Vegas to Bangkok.  But then why would you change a winning team.  Zach Galifianakis is incredible, no one does oddly crazy like him, just brilliant.  Watch it!

Synopsis:  Now Stu is getting married in Thailand and the Wolf Pack are flying out for the wedding.  But then one drink on the beach and they wake up in an unfamiliar hotel room in Bangkok and they don’t remember anything from the night before.  Also they have misplaced Stu’s future brother-in-law.  Will they find him or will Bangkok take him forever!

Film 135/365, Day 146/365 – The Hangover

Insanely hilarious madness!  The Hangover is one of the funniest films to have been released in ages and I have my tickets to see the sequel booked for tomorrow night.  If it is half as funny as this film I am in for a real treat.  As the night before is slowly revealed you can’t help but wonder how it can get any more messed up, but it does and it just keeps doing so.  Just brilliant.

Synopsis:  Doug is about to get married so he, his two best friends and his soon to be brother in law are heading to Las Vegas to celebrate.  They have a crazy night you would never forget, but they did.  They didn’t remember a single thing about it even where they left the groom!

Film 134/365, Day 145/365 – Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life

Hello Lara!  Angelina is back for her second film as busty video game hero Lara Croft.  It is pretty much the same sort of thing as the first film, lots of action and over the top stunts with some mystical treasure hunting thrown in.  And if you liked the first film then there is now reason you won’t like the second.  As good as the first one.

Synopsis:  Lara Croft is back and this time she is searching for Pandora’s Box believed to hold all of the evils in the world and It’s going to be a race against an evil weapons manufacturer, who specializes in biological weapons and seeks to use it for his own evil purpose.  Can Lara find Pandora’s Box in time?

Film 133/365, Day 144/365 – Dinocroc vs. Supergator

Ok, I have really got to stop it.  No more late films on SyFy with ‘vs.’ in the title.  This isn’t the worst one however, that honour still falls to Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus.  But it also isn’t very good, acting is acceptable on the most parts, story is predictable and the actual part where we finally see the point of the title is over in thirty seconds and was a massive anticlimax.

Synopsis: On a remote island a secret laboratory has been experimenting with genetics and developed some over sized vegetables and mushrooms.  The wealthy benefactor has decided that the experimentation should now move to crocodiles and alligators due to there resistance to disease.  Unsurprisingly the two creatures escape and then run around the island eating a whole host of stupid and annoying people.

Film 132/365, Day 142/365 – Heat

Epic!  Heat is a fantastic film on every level, Pacino is excellent as always, De Niro is fantastic and I think kind of stole the show, the rest of the cast, and crikey what a cast, are all brilliant.  The visuals are breathtaking.  Oh and what a heist!  Love it, watch it!

Synopsis:  Neil and his highly skilled group of professional thieves are looking to pull off one last big heist.  Hot on their trail is Lt. Vincent Hanna and his team.  Both Neil and Vincent are struggling with personal issues but they can’t both win, someone’s got to lose.

Film 131/365, Day 141/365 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Cool and Confident.  Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a classic ‘80s film complete with the same soundtrack as ever other ’80s comedy, which is great. ‘baa bom bom, chic chic-chicah’, you know the one.  Also enjoyed seeing a young Charlie Sheen with his truth bullets for Ferris’ sister.  It certainly was funny, although I think had I seen it earlier in my life I would have connected with it more.

Synopsis:  Ferris is sick and won’t be at school today!  Alright, he’s not sick but he is going to have a day off and he is going to make the most of it.  With Cameron, his best friend, and Sloane, his girlfriend there is nothing that Ferris cannot do or get away with.

Film 130/365, Day 140/365 – Attack the Block

Another good British comedy horror, with a script that could have been written by N’Dubz!!!  There are plenty of jumpy moments to keep everyone on their toes and some genuinely funny characters thrown in to mix.  At times however you can’t help but enjoy the little thugs getting their just deserves.  The aliens at times do look a little Muppet-like.  Good mindless fun, but not a patch on Shaun of the Dead!

Synopsis:  When a group of young kids who were up to no good are attacked by an alien creature, they kill it and take it back to their block in South London and in doing so they have unwittingly drawn a swarm of larger aliens in on them.  Now they are going to have to tool up and band together with the residents that they terrorize if they are going to survive.

Film 129/365, Day 139/365 – The Waterboy

Funny, ridiculous and stupid, but you can’t help but love it.  It’s not Adam Sandler’s best work but it does have some very funny moments and the football scenes are pretty good especially watching Bobby visualising to help him get mad.  Water sucks, but Gatorade is better!!!  Good but not great.

Synopsis:  One day lowly high school football water boy Bobby Boucher snaps after years of abuse and when he does snap he finally reveals an extraordinary gift for tackling people.  The problem is that his mother doesn’t want him to play football.  Eventually the coach manages to convince Bobby’s mother to allow him to play.

Film 128/365, Day 138/365 – Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Action, intrigue and Angelina at her absolute hottest.  Yes, it’s far fetched and yes, it is completely over the top.  You also have to remember that it is based on a video game about a woman with big boobs who solves mystical mysteries.  Well that is exactly what you get from the film, plus some pretty good action sequences.  Guilty pleasure!

Synopsis:  Lara Croft, the daughter of an English Lord, is an expert treasure hunter and tomb raider.  One night she is woken by a ticking sound, only to find a secret ancient artifact hidden away by her late father.  The clock could hold the key to control time itself, but that means that the Illuminati, a secret organisation with goals of world domination, have their eye on it also.

Film 127/365, Day 137/365 – Van Wilder: Party Liaison

Obscenely hilarious with some of the funniest scenes ever.  I love watching Van Wilder, it never fails to make me smile, laugh, gag and gasp with shock.  If you haven’t seen it, well, I would absolutely recommend it.  Ryan Reynolds is fantastic and I believe the rightful successor to Chevy Chase, shame he has moved away from comedy films to do action films.  Fingers crossed he comes back for some more.

Synopsis:  Van Wilder has been at Coolidge College for seven years without graduating.  But during his time there he has become the life and soul of Coolidge.  Badalandabad exchange student Taj is recruited by Van to be his personal assistant and learn the art of muff diving!  Van eventually falls for student journalist Gwen and soon is in a battle with her boyfriend, a medical student and fraternity head.

Film 126/365, Day 136/365 – Scary Movie

Waaaasssssuuuup!!!  Scary Movie takes the piss out of most of the big films of the 1990’s and the horror movie genre en mass.  Whilst some of it is very funny, some of it is not so.  The best moment is their take on the Budweiser adverts, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for Miss Man, makes me shudder just thinking about it.  Funny, but not a patch on the ultimate spoof films, Naked Gun and Airplane.

Synopsis:  A careless accident results in a group of friends dumping a body into the sea.  They promise never to tell anyone about what they have done.  One year later and a crazed costumed killer is stalking them because he know’s what they did last Halloween!  Will any of them live to tell the tale?

Film 125/365, Day 135/365 – The Spy Who Loved Me

The best spoof of Austin Powers in ages!  Now before I get corrected, I am well aware that Austin Powers is a spoof of James Bond and not the other way around.  That said however watching this was utterly cringe worthy.  If it wasn’t a Bond film then it wouldn’t be shown on TV anymore.  I found myself laughing all the way through, if not for the special effects then at what they obviously once thought was a suave and cool way to behave.  It might as well be a Carry On film!

Synopsis:  After a British and Russian nuclear submarine inexplicable disappear, James Bond has to team up with Russian Agent XXX to recover them before their weaponry can be used to start World War 3.

Film 124/365, Day 133/365 – Friday the 13th

The best crazy supernatural serial killer from the 1980’s returns. In the original Friday the 13th films the scenarios were always pretty similar, Jason would be brought back to life at the beginning of the movie and would then hunt and chase a group of drunken, sex crazed teenagers until there was one or two left who would manage to kill him. So why should the remake be any different? Just one thing, kill him when you get the chance, if you think he’s dead do it again it doesn’t hurt and you might live longer as a result.

Synopsis:  Several years after a deranged mother goes on a murderous rampage at a holiday camp a group of teenagers stumble across the same derelict holiday camp.  Without warning a crazed killer, the son of the deranged mother, slays them.  Several months later Clay is looking for his sister, one of the before mentioned group of teenagers, who has an uncanny resemblance to the mother.  Will he find his sister alive or will the crazed killer find him first?

Film 123/365, Day 132/365 – The Descent

Claustrophobes beware!  Whilst the Descent is a perfectly good horror it is the way that you feel the tight spaces in the rocks, squeezing through spaces only just big enough to fit through hundreds of metres below the surface that is it’s greatest aspect.  There are no big surprises here just a very well filmed film.  You could do much worse!

Synopsis:  A group of friends go caving in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.  And rather than stick to the charted caves, the leader takes them into uncharted caves in the hope of discovering them.  That was what you call a massive error of judgement.  Soon they are further than they hoped and the route back is blocked, and to make matters worse there is something else down there.

Film 122/365, Day 132/365 – Alien

Fantastic sci-fi, average horror.  Alien wasn’t that scary, but considering that it is over thirty years old it is still an excellently made film.  Long before CGI became widespread and largely over used films were reliant on scale models and sets.  Alien has got to be one of the finest examples of this, each set is fantastically crafted and the visuals of the alien spaceship are incredible.

Synopsis:  A deep space mining ship receives a distress signal whilst travelling back to Earth. The signal leads them to a baron world where they discover an enormous alien spaceship.  Everything on the ship appears to be dead, that is until an alien creature attaches itself to the face on one of the crew.

Film 121/365, Day 131/365 – True Lies

Everything you would expect from an Arnie film and whilst you probably wouldn’t expect Arnie and Jamie Lee Curtis to necessarily work together, they are actually very good together.  If I’m going to be critical I would say that Arnie is probably the least convincing secret agent.  I mean no one would believe he was a computer salesman.  Worth watching for the Harrier jump jet scene alone.

Synopsis:  Secret Agent Harry Tasker suspects that his wife may be having an affair.  And when it turns out that the man she is meeting with is pretending to be a secret agent and taking claim to all of Harry’s missions he decides to teach them both a lesson.  During the lesson Harry and his wife are kidnapped by terrorists, the only problem is that she thinks she is the secret agent.  She is in for a shock!

Film 120/365, Day 128/365 – Die Hard: With a Vengeance

Explosive action and smart talking heroes.  When the villain in Die Hard 2 failed to live up to Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber, Die Hard: With a Vengeance stepped up to give us Jeremy Irons as Hans Gruber’s brother.  That alone would have been enough to make sure this was a success, but why stop there?  Throw Samuel L. Jackson in as well to make sure this is another action hit.  Excellent fun from start to finish.

Synopsis:  So far John McClane has done Los Angeles and Washington DC and now he’s about to play on his own turf, New York City.  After an explosion in a department store in New York, a mysterious man phone the NYPD and demands that John McClane follow his commands or he will set off another bomb.  John, currently suspended is reinstated and put to work following the mad man’s instructions.

Film 119/365, Day 128/365 – Monsters

An intriguing storyline with some spectacular visuals, both natural and CGI.  Whilst Monsters isn't the greatest film it is well worth watching, however the real success story is in the making of the film.  Shot on a very low budget, the two actors travelled through Central America with a small crew and armed guards (some who pitched in as extras) to tell this unique tale of life after the extraterrestrials initial arrival.

Synopsis:  Set six years after a space probe that had found evidence of extraterrestrial life broke up over Mexico.  A photographer in Central America is given the task of escorting his manager’s daughter back to the United States.  They arrange to catch the last boat back before the mating season starts, but when they lose their passports they have to travel by land through the quarantine zone!

Film 118/365, Day 127/365 – Howl’s Moving Castle

A magical heart warming tale.  Yet another fantastic animated film from the legendary director Hayao Miyazaki.  The animation is excellent and the world in which Howl’s Moving Castle takes place is outstanding.  If you’ve never seen anything from Studio Ghibli then this is a great place to start, if however you have seen some then you will need no convincing to see this.  Great film.

Synopsis:  A young girl who meets a powerful wizard in a chance encounter is cursed by a rival witch.  The curse turns her into an old lady who cannot reveal that she has been cursed.  In an attempt to reverse the curse she goes in search of the wizard to see if he can help her but unable to tell anyone about the curse she ends up becoming his cleaner and ends up changing everyone’s lives forever.

Film 117/365, Day 127/365 – Romancing the Stone

A good old fashioned romantic adventure.  I remember watching this several times as a child, and am happy to say that it is still an enjoyable film.  It’s not quite as good as I remember but then film has changed so much since the ‘80s.  Want something easy for the weekend?  Then look no further.

Synopsis:  Joan Wilder is a romance novelist who lives alone with her cat.  One day she receives a package from her recently deceased brother-in-law.  Soon she receives a call from her sister who has been kidnapped in Colombia and needs Joan to bring the map to free her.  In Colombia Joan is completely out of her depth and soon finds herself trying to find the treasure with the help of Jack Colton.  We they find the treasure and save Joan’s sister?

Film 116/365, Day 125/365 – Rec 2

Fast paced action.  Rec 2 sadly wasn’t quite as good as the first film.  I think it lacked the intensity and a little bit of the mystery, obviously as we know what has already happened.  Also I wasn’t too impressed with the direction it took towards demonic possession and I thought ending was a little too obvious.  Good but not as good as the first film.

Synopsis:  Following on immediately from the end of Rec, a SWAT team accompanies a doctor into the quarantined building to get to the bottom of things.  Before too long things start to get pretty messy and when they discover that another group has made it into the building, some kids with a video camera.  Will they manage to stop the spread of the mysterious virus or not?

Film 115/365, Day 124/365 – Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Non-stop hilarious nonsense.  Either you love him or you hate him, he is Jim Carrey and I love him.  His bizarre expressions and rubber movements make him a one of a kind and I for one will never tire of his films.  The best moment is without a doubt the realisation.  If you’ve seen it you know what I am talking about.  “You’re gun is digging into my hip!!!”

Synopsis:  The mascot of the Miami Dolphins, Snowball the Dolphin, is kidnapped shortly before the Dolphins are due to play in the Superbowl.  Desperate they turn to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective to recover the missing Dolphin.  Star Quarterback Dan Marino has also gone missing.  Can Ace find them in time or is he out of his depth?

Film 114/365, Day 123/365 – The Objective

An utter waste of time.  The director of my least favourite film of all time, the Blair Witch Project, strikes again, once more giving us very little substance to a story and offering even less in the way of a conclusion.  Clearly he thinks it’s clever to just not have an ending.  My advice to you, Daniel Myrick, stick to advertising.  Rubbish!

Synopsis:  A team is dispatched into Afghanistan to investigate an unusual heat signature, most commonly associated with nuclear weapons.  Soon it becomes apparent that things are not quite as they first seemed.

Film 113/365, Day 123/365 – The Goonies

The ultimate childhood adventure.  Anyone that grew up in the eighties will not doubt have seen the Goonies and if there is one person that didn’t love it, well, then they just shouldn’t be allowed to watch films anymore.  It is utterly brilliant, from Chunk’s truffle shuffle, to Sloth’s “Hey you guys!” and Data’s inventions.  This film has it all and nothing in recent times has come even close to capturing the magic of the Goonies!

Synopsis:  With their neighbourhood about to be destroyed to make way for the new exclusive golf course, a group of school friends who call themselves the Goonies try to find the long lost treasure of infamous pirate One Eyed Willie.  To get there they will have to brave a notorious criminal family and numerous booby traps.

Film 112/365, Day 122/365 – Land of the Dead

What’s scarier than a mindless zombie?  Well, apart from hundreds of mindless zombies…  That’s right!  Zombies that can think and work as a team.  Whilst this sadly isn’t as good as Romero’s previous films it is still an enjoyable watch.  And if I’m honest I am not sure I like the thinking zombies and also how do these stumbling wrecks ever manage to catch people who could just as easily out walk them?  Still good mindless fun!

Synopsis:  The fourth zombie film from legendary director George A. Romero takes place long after the zombie outbreak first occurred.  What is left of the living have fortified themselves inside a city where life goes on as before… almost!  The city is run by a sinister capitalist who sends men out into the nearby towns to scavenge for food and supplies.  The zombies however appear to be regaining some memories and are beginning to work together!

Film 111/365, Day 121/365 – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Action, adventure and high jinx on the high seas.  Johnny Depp is flawless as Captain Jack Sparrow.  Geoffrey Rush is also excellent as the Captain of the Black Pearl, Captain Barbossa, my favourite pedantic pirate.  And also of note I have now seen the third and final male member of the TV show Coupling with Jack Davenport.  Just need to find the girls now.  Excellent fun for all the family.

Synopsis:  Eight year old William Turner is rescued at sea and given a new life.  Many years later his past will come back to haunt him, which coincides with the appearance of Captain Jack Sparrow.  Soon Turner and Sparrow will be chasing the Black Pearl across the Caribbean to rescue Turner’s love, Elizabeth Swan.  The crew of the Black Pearl however are cursed!

Review of April 2011

I am now four months in with only eight to go and I am ten films behind, should be able to make that back in eight months.  Spent a good seven days this month doing DIY and nothing else.  Here is my progress to date.

Here is the new to old film ratio.

Eleven new films this month which keeps me well on track for one third of my films being new.

Here are how the films have been rated.

Not a single film managed to get the five star rating in April, but plenty managed four stars.

And finally here is the percentage of my time that I have spent watching films so far this year.

More and more film stars have seen there names gather at the bottom of each review.  Last months leader, Bruce Willis, has to settle with sharing the honour with Arnold Schwarzenegger with four each.

• Bruce Willis
• Arnold Schwarzenegger

Behind then there are a number all with three films.

• Dan Aykroyd
• Jason Bateman
• Jim Carrey
• Julia Stiles
• Karl Urban
• Matt Damon
• Seann William Scott

Best get on with it, I've got some catching up to do.

Film 110/365, Day 120/365 – Rec

A fantastic first person horror film, so good the American’s made their own version, Quarantine, because subtitles are too hard!  Rec is excellent, it is everything that the Blair Witch was not, exciting, entertaining, thrilling and non-stop roller coaster ride.  A must for all zombie fans and possibly a surprise those that aren’t!

Synopsis:  Rec follows a young Spanish reporter and her cameraman as they document the night of a local fire crew.  Not too long into the shift an emergency is called in and the fire crew head out to work with the reporter and camera tagging along.  Not long after getting to their destination what seemed like a routine operation spirals out of control and they are all quarantined in the building along with whatever else may be in there.