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Reviews
Afghan Luke (2011)
Afghan Luke gets it right on so many levels!
Let's welcome back the director of "Trailer Park Boys" Mike Clattenberg for what I believe is his second full length feature film and quiet a good one at that.
"Afghan Luke" stars a bunch of incredibly talented young actors/actresses my personal favorite of course Nick Stahl along with Stephen Lobo and Nicholas Wright. It's a drama that follows Luke Benning(Stahl) and the story he is attempting to write and prove about Canadian solider mutilating corpses in Afghanistan during the war. After initially being rejected Luke quits his paper to return to Afghanistan with his best friend Thom played by N.Wright where they attempt to gain proof of the story by heading across the country in search of the evidence.
Well what can I say, I suppose I will start with the cinematography the film is shot beautifully I believe in parts of British Columbia but had such great authenticity and really made you feel part of the journey. The dialog was very cleverly written along with some great comedic timing, everyone owns there roles, I was surprised to find all the cast were either American's or Canadians and with a multitude of dialects and accents throughout the film it was performed successfully, Nick stole the show leading us down the road the film ultimately takes.
On a limited budget a solid project raising questions and answers on war was carried out very well. Only thing missing was a good musical score which could have accompanied the film, and it was a little slow in it's build up. Warning alert to those easily offended there is a bit of drug use and plenty of heavy language throughout the film, but most is in context with the storytelling. If you are looking for a unique take on a journalistic point of view of the war this is much better then recent films "The Bang Bang Club" and "5 Days Of War" if your a fan of Nick like I am, it's one worth a viewing.
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
A Prequel in a way and very enjoyable!
Well, Tod Williams congratulations!on taking over the role of Oren Peli who was director of the first film and re-creating that suspense filled atmosphere we all crave and hope for in films like this.
Having been a huge fan of the first film and its concept I was very anxious awaiting this release, it hit cinemas in South Australia yesterday and I was at one of the first few sessions, It was great because their were only a handful of people, I wanted to view it quietly and in the pitch black dark to gain the full effect. The cast were all very solid the return of Katie and Micah fit into the plot very well.
This is actually a prequel to the first film and I liked the way they gave you a better feel for how things came to pass in the first film. The young female lead who I had seen in a couple of episodes of Jericho (tv show) carried on that creepiness that Katie's character had in the first film. Some very good jumps and sound effects were used once again, a bit of night vision work was added which we never saw in the first gave it another layer all together.
I think its exceptional when a director can get that amount of suspense out of a scene without any type of a musical score, bravo! It was interesting to hear Peli's view point on the original idea for the script, he got it after having gone to sleep one night and woken up the next morning to see that his washing detergent had moved over a metre from the position it was in the night before!! eek very creepy, ever had anything like that happen to you?? Anyone who hates on this doesn't understand success or failure, the promotion on the film regardless of what people think, was extraordinary (up there with Avatar) and deserves the mass grossing it has got! so be sure to respect and promote it.
Avatar (2009)
Visually Crafted Masterpiece!
Wow, Wow and Wow is all I can say about this film. James Cameron's best film by far, Titanic is a very good film and obviously based on a true story, as far as Avatar "this is a mix of sci-fi fantasy" which is totally not something I would get into but their are some great aspects that you can relate too in the way the world is today and what counts and matters to people, greed, power etc.
I will say I love the cast in this movie I first saw Sam Worthington in "Rogue" Greg Mclean's Aussie Crocidile film, he had a small part but I knew he was going to do big things, when you put him alongside Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Giovanni Ribisi your bound to see a great picture.
This movie is the most intensely colorful film I have seen in my life, makes you feel like you are their, the acting is very good my only slight criticism is that it's a little cliché, but now days what isn't?? It's one of the most original stories I have ever had the pleasure of seeing been played out on a big screen! It's one of those movies you just don't want to end, the fact that anyone can view any part of this film as boring or dull baffles me!! It really is one of the best films in movie history no need to say anymore, grab your copy on DVD or even Blu-Ray if you can you will NOT be disappointed.
A Serious Man (2009)
Wow can't be taken seriously!
Well what can I say, I have pretty much seen everything the Coen brothers have done and I have to say I'm not a huge fan of their work, I think they have good ideas but have trouble transferring them onto screen.
When I first heard about "A Serious Man" I was looking forward to seeing if they were going to change my mind, they most definitely did not. The fact that this film is over 7 on IMDb is a disgrace! and should have never been nominated for any type of award. This is not the worst film but their is nothing that separates it from hundreds of other films of the same nature. I watched just over an hour hoping it would start taking direction but it just didn't! other then their being some solid acting the storyline was about as interesting as watching cricket! "and I'm Aussie ha ha"
Many reviewers had labeled this "audacious" and also "hilarious" I watched this for over an hour and I think I got one or two laughs out of it, totally not worth the time. I don't see how people got dark/comedy from this film. A satire or dark comedy would be "Ghost World" or "American Psycho" not this film. I think it was just a straight up drama that never amounted to anything, incredibly slow and lacking in character development, the first ten minutes set the tone for this entire movie. I'll never get my time back I advise you move three isles over at the DVD store when you see this one!