Potentially a great movie but killed by the director,
17 February 2008
 I am writing this without having seen any other reviews, or
trailers and I have no idea who the director is. For it is
surely the director who has to take the wrap for this movies'
complete failure to entertain. The scriptwriter/s, actors
and everyone else involved in its production deserve every
accolade, it was excellently produced. But, in almost every
scene there were reality errors. The victims have so many
opportunities to overcome their captors but don't take them.
A good horror movie should be the good guys lose, lose again, win
a bit, lose again, win, win a lot, and win outright. And the characters
should be believable in any situation. I can only assume
that the director of this movie is fresh out of film school
and got a main chance. I will check it out now.
Jodie Foster just gets better, 21 February
2008
 After
the disappointment of the appalling movie 'Storm Warning' what a pleasant surprise to watch a movie that exceeds all
expectations. The title 'The Brave One' and starring Jodie
Foster didn't exactly have me enthralled. But as it turned
out there was nothing I could fault this movie for, it
delivered everything that a 21st century movie should.
Utterly believable, even the ending is what the audience
expects and deserves. It was also good to see Jodie Foster
returning to the earthy talent she showed in her earlier
movies, in my opinion this is her best role to date. I can't
imagine that anyone would be disappointed with this movie.
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Breaking the usual Hollywood mold, 5
January 2008
 This is only the second movie I've been moved enough
to comment on. What a strange movie, normally I'm on
the side of the good guys, but from the opening
credits I was on the side of the killer. Brat kids
get perhaps a bit more than they deserve and smart
mouthed over-age US college students, still just as
smart mouthed, get their just desserts. OK the
punishment for being smart mouthed was a bit
extreme, but then hey it's just a movie. Great
entertainment completely breaking the usual good
guys win mold. Making the audience hate the good
guys and then take them out one by one. Or am I the
only one to see the movie this way, in which case
perhaps I should get help.
My final comment:
I think you're missing the point of this movie, it's
fairly obvious that the movie is aimed at putting
down the clever clever smart mouthed younger
generation. From the outset the audience is made to
hate the telephone prank kids and later the
over-aged adolescents, so instead of feeling sorry
for them being eliminated one by one the audience is
actually on the side of the killer(s). As for the
pseudo sex with all the girls keeping their bras on
etc, and the blurred out nipples in the only naked
run through scene, well that only added to the
hilarity of the whole movie. Breaks the mold of the
usual good guys win movies.
That this movie was made (allowed to be
made) at all is a fairly obvious political
statement, 1 February 2007
 I
can understand why the reviewer 'soflwrs' of
Brighton, England did not want to comment on
the politics of this movie. Nonetheless it
seems to me the fact that this movie was
made (allowed to be made at all) is a fairly
obvious political statement. The role and
need for a monarchy was sorely tested during
the period of time covered by the film and
the final message to me was of yet another
patch being applied to an ailing
institution. And where did the scriptwriters
get their 'royal dialog' from? is it fiction
or fact? Pathe News, champions of wartime
propaganda, could not have done a better
job. As for the title, 'The Queen' this is a
little broad for a movie that spans but a
minute portion of this Monarchs reign.
Actors portraying modern day people never
quite works, and with so many in this movie,
judging the casting directors choice of
actor constantly diverted my attention from
the storyline. Despite all that, I found the
movie mildly entertaining.
It's not
possible to write a spoiler for a movie this
bad. 12 December 2008
(Should be one star, but I have to design a
one-star image especially for this movie)
 I
have seen some bad movies in my time but
2012 Doomsday really wins the ‘brown globe’
award. What a bunch of religious,
sanctimonious, schmaltzy, over-acted
claptrap. The holier than thou brigade gone
flip-side. If this movie was designed to
turn all non-God-believers into raving bible
freaks it failed miserably.
As for the pathetic technical side, snow
that never settles, a guy who watches his
wife clothed in just a short sleeved tee
shirt die of hypothermia without offering
the long sleeved shirt off his back, a
heroine battling her way to the temple in
the snow in a halter top. Not to mention
earthquakes that occur where the hapless
cast just happen to be standing (or driving
their car). I guess it must have been Gods
will that mothers and helicopter pilots just
disappear for no apparent reason, all for
the greater good I suppose. This movie gets
the lowest score I have ever given, 1 out of
10.
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Kevin Costner,
believable at last. 14 December 2008
 First,
I have to say this is the first movie I've
seen Kevin Costner play a believable role
in, getting there at last. I have to say I
expected Molly to come through to take full
advantage of the 'bribes' angle, but then as
the movie enfolded, that wasn't really what
the writer had in mind. The send up of the
US political system was subtle and poignant
without resorting to overt cynicism. All in
all a surprisingly watchable and enjoyable
movie.
Bud's final speech to both candidates,
and to the (real) American public at large
was what the whole movie is about, re-wind
and watch that bit again. In this year of
banker induced financial misery, the
question cannot be asked enough times. Just
why is it that here in the 21st century many
ordinary hard working Americans cannot feed
their family, pay their mortgage and
generally make ends meet?
7 out of 10 for the movie and the very
promising beginning for Mr Costner.
Kings - USA TV
Series (2009)
Ian McShane,
reduced to this. 2009 June
Not a movie as such, but having recently
watched all three series of the western TV
series 'Deadwood'[in 2 weeks] I am at last, after six
months of having too many other things to
do, moved to comment upon Ian McShane's
latest role as King Silas in the less than
moving series 'Kings'.
My IMDB posting
says it all:
Sheer utter unadulterated juvenile pathos.
Predictable, unrealistic script supported
and made mildly watchable only by the acting
ability of Ian McShane and a couple of other
exceptional actors.
Plodding plot and pathetic twists of
stilted fate and godly references worthy of
some children’s hour play.
Compared to the heights dedicated TV fare
reached half a decade ago with 'Deadwood',
Kings is I suspect, unlikely to make it past
series one. I wait with baited yawn for
S01E07.
Postscript:
I have now learned that the series has been
pulled and no sequels are planned -
No surprises
there.
Entertaining and
Thought Provoking. 2009 July
 I
don't know how I missed this movie in 2008.
I have suffered some real rubbish movies of
late (circa 2009), but like books, once
started I have to finish, no matter how bad
they are. Now I've read a lot of criticism
about the 2009 version of 'The Day The Earth
Stood Still', but I have to admit the story
and the message elevated me above being
immediately critical about the various
less-than-worthy aspects of the movie that
have been justifiably raised by other
critics. I watched it for what it was meant
to be, pure entertainment, 100 minutes of my
life I could well afford and donated gladly.
It re-kindled many thoughts in my mind that
have been lounging around for some time now.
Right from the start of the movie when the
alien gets shot I wanted the aliens to win,
(am I the only one?) such is my growing
disgust for all things human on this planet.
Rightly so, the movie measures us against
all the other life forms that inhabit Earth,
giving as much credence to their right to
live as to ours. It's a fact that dinosaurs
roamed this planet for a period of time 600
times longer than Homo Sapiens has been in
the driving seat, our tenancy is in its
infancy by comparison and yet most human
beings think they are what the planet was
waiting for.
I really wanted the aliens to succeed with
their sanitization of the planet, for some
time I have thought how nice it would be to
clear this great planet earth of human
beings and let it revert to better times.
Basil Fawlty (AKA Prof. Jacob Barnhardt) was
wrong, the aliens were right. Nations that
have atomic bombs call them 'deterrents',
nations that don't but aspire to having them
are said to desire 'weapons of mass
destruction', for me they are the ultimate
cleansing agent just like the black bugs in
the movie.
Wow, such uproar, no doubt myriads of itchy
fingers reaching for keyboards to vent their
wrath upon my words in some kind of proxy
revenge. Don't bother, the fact that you
even think about doing it is proof positive
of the perniciousness of the human mind.
This movie, while not perfect at least goes
a long way in pointing a finger at the
culprits, humankind, the scourge of this
earth.
I'm not a 'green' or an activist, just an
observer becoming more ashamed by the day of
being human. But human beings are what they
are, despicable self appointed 'super
beings' that think they're the ultimate life
form created in the image of equally
pernicious gods that direct them in the
guise of a thousand religions to kill, maim,
swindle, rob and generally cause harm to
each other and every other living thing. Our
desperate search for life on other planets
is merely our desire to extend the reach of
our lust for other life forms to exploit or
kill.
More or less everything on this Earth has
been here since the beginning of everything,
as the alien Klaatu said in one throw-away
line in the movie, '...the universe is not
wasteful it's all recycled'. For me it's
definitely time for the human race to move
over, the quicker it's recycled the better.
And finally suck on this; in a billion years
time man will be long gone, but the atoms
we're all made of right now will still be
here, but not in their current
configuration, thank those gods.
A very entertaining and thought provoking
movie that gets 8 out of 10 stars from me.
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