Saturday, 31 December 2011

280: I've seen things you wouldn't believe...

CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.


And here we are. On the eve of 2012.

I had two resolutions for 2011. 1) Blog more, and 2) Watch more movies. Regular readers will notice that I managed both. I decided to rate and review every film I saw in 2011. The cinema-visits have been covered in this here blog, and the home (or otherwise) ones in my Facebook albums (Parts one and two). In 2010, I managed to post things to my blog 23 times. In 2011, I did 193. I'm not saying that quantity is better than quality, but I'm more comfortable expressing my thoughts as expletive-riddled words now, certainly.

Anyway, back on target: I've been to the cinema 83 times in 2011 (thanks to Cineworld's Unlimited thing) and all-in-all, I've seen over 200 films. And because I'm an anally-retentive bastard, I've kept records of them. Apart from the reviews in the blog, I mean. To save you ploughing through an unwieldy table, I've put the results into a handy infographic. It's just a broad overview of the year.

Enjoy.

World of Blackout's Movies of 2011

What's that? You want to see some hard data? Oh, go on then...


DATE:TITLE:RATING:GENRE (1):GENRE (2):LOC:
02 Jan 2011Star Wars: The Clone Wars7/7Sci-FiAnimationHome
02 Jan 2011The Bank Job7/7ThrillerGangsterHome
03 Jan 2011The Godfather5/7GangsterDramaHome
07 Jan 2011From Paris With Love3/7ActionAdventureHome
08 Jan 2011Star Wars: The Phantom Menace7/7Sci-FiAdventureHome
09 Jan 2011The Next Three Days5/7ThrillerActionCinema
10 Jan 2011Tron: Legacy (3D)4/7Sci-FiAdventureCinema
11 Jan 2011Solomon Kane5/7AdventureActionHome
16 Jan 2011Gulliver's Travels (3D)5/7ComedyAdventureCinema
16 Jan 2011The King's Speech6/7DramaCinema
23 Jan 2011The Green Hornet (3D)6/7ActionComedyCinema
25 Jan 2011127 Hours5/7ThrillerDramaCinema
26 Jan 2011Black Swan5/7DramaThrillerCinema
29 Jan 2011Dr. Who & The Daleks3/7Sci-FiAdventureHome
29 Jan 2011American Graffiti3/7DramaComedyHome
30 Jan 2011Hereafter2/7DramaSci-FiCinema
31 Jan 2011Star Wars: Attack of the Clones7/7Sci-FiAdventureHome
10 Feb 2011The Mechanic6/7ActionAdventureCinema
14 Feb 2011True Grit4/7WesternDramaCinema
16 Feb 2011The Thirteenth Floor5/7Sci-FiThrillerHome
20 Feb 2011Paul7/7Sci-FiComedyCinema
26 Feb 2011Layer Cake6/7GangsterDramaHome
26 Feb 2011xXx5/7ActionAdventureHome
26 Feb 2011Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels7/7GangsterDramaHome
27 Feb 2011Snatch7/7GangsterDramaHome
03 Mar 2011Drive Angry (3D)6/7ActionAdventureCinema
04 Mar 2011The Adjustment Bureau5/7Sci-FiThrillerCinema
05 Mar 2011RockNRolla6/7GangsterDramaHome
06 Mar 2011I Am Number Four3/7Sci-FiAdventureCinema
09 Mar 2011Unknown5/7ActionThrillerCinema
12 Mar 2011The Godfather Part II4/7GangsterDramaHome
13 Mar 2011Battle: Los Angeles4/7Sci-FiActionCinema
14 Mar 2011Hall Pass3/7ComedyCinema
15 Mar 2011Machete7/7ActionThrillerHome
20 Mar 2011The Lincoln Lawyer5/7DramaThrillerCinema
20 Mar 2011The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu6/7Sci-FiComedyHome
22 Mar 2011Clive Barker's: Book of Blood4/7HorrorThrillerHome
23 Mar 2011Limitless6/7ActionThrillerCinema
26 Mar 2011From Dusk Till Dawn7/7ActionHorrorHome
27 Mar 2011Reservoir Dogs5/7GangsterThrillerHome
27 Mar 2011Sin City4/7ThrillerActionHome
27 Mar 2011Pulp Fiction7/7ThrillerDramaHome
28 Mar 2011El Mariachi2/7AnimationActionHome
29 Mar 2011Jackie Brown5/7ThrillerGangsterHome
30 Mar 2011Desperado5/7ActionGangsterHome
01 Apr 2011Inglourious Basterds6/7ThrillerDramaHome
02 Apr 2011Death Proof7/7ThrillerActionHome
02 Apr 2011Once Upon A Time In Mexico3/7ActionGangsterHome
03 Apr 2011Kill Bill Vol16/7ActionThrillerHome
03 Apr 2011Kill Bill Vol26/7ActionThrillerHome
04 Apr 2011Planet Terror6/7HorrorActionHome
05 Apr 2011Source Code6/7Sci-FiThrillerCinema
06 Apr 2011Sucker Punch4/7ActionFantasyCinema
16 Apr 2011Star Wars: A New Hope7/7Sci-FiAdventureHome
16 Apr 2011Zombieland6/7HorrorAdventureHome
18 Apr 2011Red Riding Hood3/7FantasyAdventureCinema
19 Apr 2011Your Highness4/7ComedyAdventureCinema
20 Apr 2011Scream 44/7HorrorThrillerCinema
24 Apr 2011Dogma5/7ComedyAdventureHome
30 Apr 2011Dr Terror's House of Horrors4/7HorrorDramaHome
02 May 2011Arthur6/7ComedyRomanceCinema
03 May 2011Fast & Furious 54/7ActionThrillerCinema
08 May 2011Thor (3D)6/7AdventureSci-FiCinema
11 May 2011Water for Elephants4/7RomanceDramaCinema
15 May 2011Attack the Block5/7AdventureComedyCinema
17 May 2011Insidious4/7HorrorThrillerCinema
18 May 2011Pirates of the Caribbean 45/7AdventureActionCinema
20 May 2011The Black Hole3/7Sci-FiAdventureHome
27 May 2011The Hangover Part II5/7ComedyAdventureCinema
25 May 2011Thor (3D)6/7AdventureSci-FiCinema
28 May 2011X-Men5/7Sci-FiAdventureHome
30 May 2011X-Men 25/7Sci-FiAdventureHome
30 May 2011X-Men: The Last Stand4/7Sci-FiAdventureHome
30 May 2011X-Men Origins: Wolverine6/7Sci-FiAdventureHome
01 Jun 2011X-Men: First Class6/7Sci-FiAdventureCinema
04 Jun 2011Indiana Jones / Crystal Skull5/7AdventureActionHome
08 Jun 2011X-Men: First Class6/7Sci-FiAdventureCinema
13 Jun 2011Paul7/7Sci-FiComedyHome
19 Jun 2011Bad Teacher2/7ComedyRomanceCinema
20 Jun 2011Green Lantern (3D)4/7AdventureSci-FiCinema
24 Jun 2011Bridesmaids5/7ComedyRomanceCinema
25 Jun 2011Kung Fu Panda5/7AnimationComedyHome
28 Jun 2011Transformers: Dark of the Moon (3D)6/7Sci-FiActionCinema
30 Jun 2011Resident Evil5/7HorrorSci-FiHome
30 Jun 2011Resident Evil: Apocalypse3/7HorrorSci-FiHome
01 Jul 2011Resident Evil: Extinction6/7HorrorSci-FiHome
01 Jul 2011Resident Evil: Afterlife5/7HorrorSci-FiHome
02 Jul 2011Resident Evil: Degeneration4/7HorrorAnimationHome
03 Jul 2011Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D)5/7AnimationComedyCinema
18 Jul 20113006/7ActionDramaHome
19 Jul 2011Transformers: Dark of the Moon (3D)6/7Sci-FiActionCinema
20 Jul 2011Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (3D)6/7AdventureFantasyCinema
22 Jul 2011Horrible Bosses5/7ComedyCinema
23 Jul 2011Fantastic Four5/7AdventureSci-FiHome
23 Jul 2011Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer5/7AdventureSci-FiHome
23 Jul 2011The Bone Collector5/7ThrillerDramaHome
29 Jul 2011Captain America (3D)6/7AdventureActionCinema
30 Jul 2011Zombie Driftwood1/7HorrorComedyHome
30 Jul 2011Big Nothing4/7ComedyThrillerHome
02 Aug 2011Adéle Blanc Sec6/7AdventureComedyHome
06 Aug 2011Captain America6/7AdventureActionCinema
08 Aug 2011Super 85/7AdventureSci-FiCinema
10 Aug 2011Captain America (3D)6/7AdventureActionCinema
12 Aug 2011Rise of the Planet of the Apes5/7AdventureThrillerCinema
15 Aug 2011Captain America6/7AdventureActionCinema
16 Aug 2011Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith7/7Sci-FiAdventureHome
17 Aug 2011Cowboys & Aliens6/7Sci-FiAdventureCinema
18 Aug 2011The Inbetweeners Movie4/7ComedyCinema
21 Aug 2011Taxi Driver2/7ThrillerDramaHome
23 Aug 2011Conan The Barbarian2/7AdventureFantasyCinema
25 Aug 2011Rocketeer5/7AdventureActionHome
26 Aug 2011Final Destination 5 (3D)5/7HorrorThrillerCinema
26 Aug 2011Alien5/7HorrorSci-FiHome
27 Aug 2011Aliens6/7HorrorSci-FiHome
27 Aug 2011Predator5/7ActionSci-FiHome
29 Aug 2011Predator 26/7ActionSci-FiHome
29 Aug 2011Alien 35/7HorrorSci-FiHome
31 Aug 2011Alien: Resurrection3/7Sci-FiActionHome
02 Sep 2011Batman: Dead End6/7ActionSci-FiHome
02 Sep 2011Alien vs. Predator5/7ActionSci-FiHome
03 Sep 2011AVP: Requiem2/7ActionSci-FiHome
04 Sep 2011Predators5/7ActionSci-FiHome
05 Sep 2011Smokin' Aces5/7ActionThrillerHome
06 Sep 2011Fright Night (3D)5/7HorrorActionCinema
07 Sep 2011Apollo 183/7HorrorSci-FiCinema
10 Sep 2011Jane Eyre2/7DramaRomanceCinema
10 Sep 2011An Evening with Kevin Smith4/7ComedyHome
11 Sep 2011Cop Out4/7ComedyActionHome
11 Sep 2011An Evening with Kevin Smith 24/7ComedyHome
11 Sep 2011Friends With Benefits4/7ComedyRomanceCinema
11 Sep 2011Red State4/7HorrorThrillerHome
12 Sep 2011Zack and Miri Make a Porno6/7ComedyRomanceHome
13 Sep 2011Jersey Girl3/7RomanceComedyHome
14 Sep 2011Clerks6/7ComedyHome
15 Sep 2011Sold Out: A Threevening with Kevin Smith5/7ComedyHome
17 Sep 2011Mallrats7/7ComedyHome
18 Sep 2011Kevin Smith: Too Fat for 40!5/7ComedyHome
19 Sep 2011Chasing Amy3/7ComedyRomanceHome
19 Sep 2011The Change-Up6/7ComedyRomanceCinema
19 Sep 2011Clerks Animated Series5/7ComedyAnimationHome
21 Sep 2011Dogma5/7ComedyAdventureHome
22 Sep 2011Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back6/7ComedyAdventureHome
23 Sep 2011Clerks II5/7ComedyHome
23 Sep 2011Jurassic Park7/7AdventureFantasyCinema
24 Sep 2011Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy2/7ThrillerDramaCinema
24 Sep 2011Blade Runner (Final Cut)6/7Sci-FiThrillerHome
25 Sep 2011Jurassic Park: The Lost World4/7AdventureFantasyHome
25 Sep 2011Jurassic Park III5/7AdventureFantasyHome
25 Sep 2011Jurassic Park7/7AdventureFantasyHome
05 Oct 2011Abduction4/7ActionThrillerCinema
09 Oct 2011Star Wars: Clone Wars (MicroSeries)7/7Sci-FiAnimationHome
10 Oct 2011What's Your Number?2/7RomanceComedyCinema
12 Oct 2011The Three Musketeers3/7AdventureFantasyCinema
13 Oct 2011The Lion King (3D)6/7AnimationAdventureCinema
14 Oct 2011Real Steel5/7AdventureThrillerCinema
14 Oct 2011Dawn of the Dead (2004)6/7HorrorHome
16 Oct 2011Night of the Living Dead6/7HorrorHome
17 Oct 2011Johnny English Reborn3/7ComedyActionCinema
21 Oct 2011Contagion4/7ThrillerDramaCinema
24 Oct 2011Outpost5/7HorrorThrillerHome
26 Oct 2011The Adventures of Tintin7/7AdventureActionCinema
27 Oct 2011The Sorcerer's Apprentice4/7FantasyActionHome
29 Oct 2011Fat Slags1/7ComedyHome
30 Oct 2011Murder On The Orient Express4/7CrimeThrillerHome
30 Oct 2011RoboCop6/7ActionThrillerHome
31 Oct 2011Ghostbusters7/7AdventureComedyHome
31 Oct 2011The Rocky Horror Picture Show6/7MusicalComedyCinema
01 Nov 2011In Time5/7ActionThrillerCinema
02 Nov 2011Tower Heist5/7ActionComedyCinema
04 Nov 2011Star Wars: Return of the Jedi7/7Sci-FiAdventureHome
13 Nov 2011Never Let Me Go6/7DramaSci-FiHome
13 Nov 2011The Help5/7DramaCinema
14 Nov 2011Immortals (3D)3/7FantasyAdventureCinema
15 Nov 2011Ghostbusters7/7AdventureComedyCinema
16 Nov 2011The Ides of March5/7ThrillerDramaCinema
21 Nov 2011Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 14/7FantasyAdventureCinema
30 Nov 2011My Week With Marilyn7/7DramaRomanceCinema
01 Dec 2011The Punisher2/7AdventureActionHome
02 Dec 2011Star Wars: A New Hope7/7Sci-FiAdventureHome
03 Dec 2011Ferris Bueller's Day Off7/7ComedyHome
03 Dec 2011Mallrats7/7ComedyHome
04 Dec 2011Point Break4/7ActionThrillerHome
06 Dec 2011Super4/7ComedyActionHome
06 Dec 2011Burke & Hare3/7ComedyAdventureHome
07 Dec 2011The Evil Dead6/7HorrorHome
08 Dec 2011Evil Dead II7/7HorrorHome
09 Dec 2011Army of Darkness5/7FantasyComedyHome
10 Dec 2011Fanboys7/7ComedyAdventureHome
11 Dec 2011Mission: Impossible6/7ActionThrillerHome
12 Dec 2011Mission: Impossible 25/7ActionThrillerHome
15 Dec 2011The Thing (2011)5/7HorrorSci-FiCinema
16 Dec 2011Mission: Impossible 35/7ActionThrillerHome
17 Dec 2011Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels7/7GangsterDramaHome
17 Dec 2011Die Hard6/7ActionThrillerHome
18 Dec 2011Gremlins6/7AdventureHorrorHome
19 Dec 2011Rare Exports7/7HorrorThrillerHome
20 Dec 2011Harold & Kumar Christmas (3D)3/7ComedyCinema
22 Dec 2011Puss in Boots (3D)6/7AnimationAdventureCinema
23 Dec 2011Trading Places5/7ComedyHome
23 Dec 2011Sherlock Holmes 26/7AdventureAdventureCinema
24 Dec 2011National Lampoons Christmas Vacation3/7ComedyHome
24 Dec 2011The Nightmare Before Christmas6/7AnimationFantasyHome
24 Dec 2011Scrooge5/7FantasyDramaHome
25 Dec 2011Survival of the Dead2/7HorrorHome
28 Dec 2011Mission Impossible 46/7ActionThrillerCinema
29 Dec 2011The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo6/7ThrillerDramaCinema




DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.

• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

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On the twelfth day of Star Wars...

CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.


Twelve filthy scavengers,

Eleven secret Sith Lords,

Ten balance bringers,

Nine farmboys whining ,

Eight founts of wisdom,

Seven carpets walking,

Six blobs of grease,

- FIVE GOLD DROIDS -

Four minor miners,

Three shifty cyborgs,

Two bearded mercs,

...and party for the whole galaxy!


>> Click for day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.

• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
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Friday, 30 December 2011

On the eleventh day of Star Wars...

CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.


Eleven secret Sith Lords,

Ten balance bringers,

Nine farmboys whining,

Eight founts of wisdom,

Seven carpets walking,

Six blobs of grease,

- FIVE GOLD DROIDS -

Four minor miners,

Three shifty cyborgs,

Two bearded mercs,

and a defender of galactic liberty.


>> Click for day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.

• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
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Thursday, 29 December 2011

277: Review - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) poster

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) (2011)
29th December 2011. Location: Cinema

Hard work in places, but worth it.

There are parts in David Fincher's remake of tGWtDT that are supposed to be difficult to watch, I know. Keeping that in mind, I didn't have that hard a time with those scenes. They're there to give gravity to the characters and they do the job rather well. What I did have a problem with was the first twenty minutes of the film. After a slick opening sequence, the audience is bombarded with fast-cut shots and constant dialogue from characters who aren't all introduced properly. From this, it's difficult to know what's important, what's background information and what's just filler. The best thing to do is just ride it out until Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) sits down for some semi-mumbled exposition courtesy of Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer). It's not really until this point that the whole show slows the hell down and you can start following at a reasonable pace.

After this, it's excellent. Dark, violent and moody with very little in the way of down-time, it's an intense murder thriller full of misanthropic characters. It's a good rule of thumb here that if you think a character deserves a good kicking, they're probably going to get it. Unless you're opposed to all vigilante justice, at least one moment will have you inwardly cheering.

As the story moves on, the rabbit-hole goes deeper into murder, abuse, conspiracy and family secrets without becoming heavily bogged down by the details. It's a long film (2h30m+), and it feels long, but there's little-to-nothing that could be trimmed to remedy that. As long as you know you're going to be there for a while, maybe don't drink too much coffee beforehand, and you won't miss any of it.

I say all this, of course, without having read the book or seen the previous versions of the films. As a blank slate, I found it very well made, but demanding. If you're not in the mood for actually paying attention for the whole film*, maybe come back to it later. Is the reward worth the demand? I'm not sure at this point. A slightly downbeat ending robs you of any feeling of accomplishment, but feels entirely in-keeping for the film.

Recommended with caution.

6/7

Oh, and the paperboy from that episode from Spaced where they have the party is in this. Bizarre.

* I don't mean that in a film-snob way, but seriously; if your mind wanders at all, you stand a chance of losing the thread, and David Fincher won't hand it back to you again.

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.

• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
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On the tenth day of Star Wars...

CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.


Ten balance bringers,

Nine farmboys whining,

Eight founts of wisdom,

Seven carpets walking,

Six blobs of grease,

- FIVE GOLD DROIDS -

Four minor miners,

Three shifty cyborgs,

Two bearded mercs,

and a defender of galactic liberty.


>> Click for day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.

• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Posted by at No comments:
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275: Review - Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol MI4 poster

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
28th December 2011. Location: Cinema

I recently watched/re-watched instalments 1-3 of the M:I franchise in preparation for this. They're over on my Facebook review album, but I've posted them under this review as well. Because I watched them in rapid succession, I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting a lot from M:I:4...

...which, this year has taught me, seems to be the key to enjoyment. Ghost Protocol surprised me pleasantly. It's not without its foibles, certainly, but it's entertaining, and it's tight. As the things I enjoyed slowly disintegrated in the first three, Cruise/Abrams have gone some way to getting back to form, here.

Once again, the IMF is proved to be one of the most abysmal employers in the world. It seems as soon as you get to office level, it's apparently full of fuckwits. The film itself, however, is way better than your job prospects with those fools. It doesn't try to be twisty-turny, and it doesn't try to be confusing. With the central thread being a lunatic trying to destroy the world (yeah, like Bond used to do), the plot is linear and well expositioned (a little too well at times, but infrequently), and the explosions never overshadow the cast. Which is a compliment, as there are a lot of explosions. I could probably have done without a lot of the humour, but this is largely down to Simon Pegg being cast to play Simon Pegg™. Don't get me wrong, Simon Pegg is great at playing Simon Pegg™, but there are few films that need that. Still, as with the explosions, it doesn't overturn the cart and the rest of the cast are earnest enough to balance it out. The eyebrow raising thing for me was the technology on display. They seem to have learned from before (see my mini review for MI2, below), and rather than use gadgets that will be outdated in five years, have gone for gadgets that clearly can't exist in this day and age. That's fine, I'll take the second one.

You don't need me to tell you that the stunt and effects work is spot on (you can read that in greater detail in every other review), but what really struck a chord with me, and I can't quite believe I'm typing this, is the roundness of the acting on display. And I include Cruise in that. Yeah, I know. Given the absolute absurdity of the situations that all the characters find themselves in, this is bloody well played. Maybe not award-worthy, but everyone concerned keeps a straight face and acts like it matters. Which is the important thing. The end-sequence seems overly long, and with character appearances that the film could have quite happily done without, but by that point you're just catching your breath, so it doesn't spoil what's gone before.

So in terms of comparison, this almost comes close to the awesomeness that was Mission: Impossible. Alas, it doesn't feature David Schneider as a train driver, but it's still more coherent than M:I:3 and more tightly focused than M:I:2.

In other words, this is a good film and that makes me happy.

6/7

Not an extremely solid six, but definitely better than a five.


Mission: Impossible poster

Mission: Impossible
11th December 2011. Location: On a train between Torquay and Oxford

Been a long time since I watched this, and I'm catching up in advance of Ghost Protocol coming out in a few weeks.

I really enjoyed this. Not 'too' twisty, not 'too' dumb-actiony, not trying to be 'too' brainy. Add in a cast of familiar faces, and you're laughing. Even Cruise is bearable in here (oh come one, you know what I mean).

For an entry-level action thriller, you could do a lot worse.

6/7

-----

Mission: Impossible 2 MI2 poster

Mission: Impossible 2
12th December 2011. Location: Home

Oh, John Woo. What are we going to do with you, eh? Talk about style over substance. With a more linear plotline, this film should pack way more of a punch than the first one. But Woo's wasted so much time with slo-mo, sunsets and smouldering glances, that it borders on 'slow' at times. Which is the exact thing that Woo DOESN'T want.

That said, it's still good fun, although the ensemble cast isn't quite as likeable this time around (that's down to my personal preferences, admittedly).

The other drawback is - tech ages. It ages badly. When Dougray Scott calculatingly slips a 32mb SD card into an envelope, you just want to laugh out loud (and especially 10 minutes later when you see the quality and resolution of the animated sequence that's supposed to be contained on that 32mb card).

This could be a very tight 90 minute action thriller. Instead, it's 120 minutes, and it's merely 'good'.

5/7

-----

Mission: Impossible 3 poster

Mission: Impossible 3
16th December 2011. Location: Home

Kind of makes you wonder why you'd do that job, doesn't it? If my place had the track record of fucking over its employees that the IMF had, I'd have retired a LONG time ago. And yet, lovely naive Ethan Hunt still hasn't learnt. Ah, well.

And you know what I loved about the first M:I movie? You'd get a location title just saying "Langley". Not "Langley, Virginia", and not "Langley USA". It's left to the audience to work it out. False flattery, maybe, but M:I3 has "Rome, Italy", and "Shangai, China". In case we thought it might be the OTHER Rome with a Vatican in it.

Other thoughts:
• Too much shakycam. This isn't fucking Cloverfield, Abrams.
• The pacing's great apart from those stretches where I'm supposed to give a shit about Ethan (Cruise) Hunt's relationship status.
• Not a fan of that saccharine ending. No good-guy casualties? At all? Hmm.

It's good. Not great by any stretch, but good.

5/7

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.

• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
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Wednesday, 28 December 2011

On the ninth day of Star Wars...

CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.


Nine farmboys whining,

Eight founts of wisdom,

Seven carpets walking,

Six blobs of grease,

- FIVE GOLD DROIDS -

Four minor miners,

Three shifty cyborgs,

Two bearded mercs,

and a defender of galactic liberty.


>> Click for day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.

• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
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