Star Trek Into Darkness *****

After reading a glowing review from The Daily Mail's new Event magazine awarding the film a nearly unheard of five stars, I knew Star Trek Into Darkness could be something special.

It seems to be the case with most films I've watched at the cinema recently, that I go into them blind having watched barely a single trailer or preview (while we're on the subject here nearly the whole cinema groaned  when we realised we had to sit through another 6 minute preview screening of the pointless action sequel Fast and Furious 6) but this actually made the film even more enjoyable. Not knowing that much about the original Star Trek actually made the unveiling of Khan, the film's super-villain  that much more suspenseful.

In terms of acting the cast all give excellent performances, the actor playing Spock, Zachary Quinto gives a believable performance of a man conflicted by the rules of duty and the loyalty to his superior Captain Kirk, (Chris Pine). Khan (Bennedict Cumberbatch) is an excellent villain, trustful one minute, ruthless and cunning the next. 

I was also pleasantly surprised to find that you didn't need to be a Star Trek geek to follow the plot, ignore the title and you're left with a tense thriller, not un-similar to the smoky confined atmosphere of the Alien franchise.

Hopefully I haven't given given too much away, all you really need to know is that Star Trek is a tense, exciting rollercoaster of a movie that is one of the best films of the year.

So on this rare occasion The Daily Mail was right.

A Cool, Dry Place ***

So this blog is pretty much turning into 'reviews of obscure films from Netflix that no one has heard of'.  But hey what's the point in reviewing films everyone has heard of, otherwise it will just turn into Ricky Gervais' film reviews (well done if you got that reference)

A Cool, Dry Place (1998) stars Vince Vaughn (Dodgeball) balancing his life as a single father caring for his five year old son and his work as an attorney and basketball coach (bit of a mish mash I know) Just as he starts to develop a new relationship with  a veterinary assistant, his wife suddenly returns wanting to be part of his and her sons life again.

It's kind of a mix of Kramer versus Kramer and Big Daddy, which strangely enough actress Joey Lauren Adams goes on to star in. Another thing to note is how much Monica Potter looks like Julia Roberts, I had to double check she wasn't her sister or something they look so alike.

 Anyway the film itself, is quite good. The acting is very good, and there are plenty of humorous moments, one in particular where youngster Calvin (played by Bobby Moat) steals a urinal cake from a cafe toilet 'because we don't have one at home.' Another strange but funny scene involves a dead Portuguese Man O War jellyfish.

 Overall not an essential watch but a there are worse ways to spent 90 minutes of your time.

The War of the Worlds Alive on Stage (sort of)

The other night I attended an exclusive screening of War of The Worlds live at Ashford Cineworld. Well sort of live, it was actually a recording of a performance filmed at the 02 arena last year. Having missed out on actually being there, I was hoping the film would recreate the live experience. I'm glad to say it does.

 Liam Neeson narrates the story of martians coming to Earth with a great sense of drama, cranking up the tension as the martians obliterate everything in their path. This was shown through retro looking animations with lasers and fire scorching the countryside. All this was backed throughout with HG Wells terrifying score, a new experience to me hearing the full songs for the first time.

Two songs particularly stuck out for me though as highlights; The Spirit of Man hauntingly sung by Jason Donovan as the priest doubting his faith and Kerry Ellis as Beth trying to reassure him, and Brave New World sung by Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs fame playing the artillery man determined to start a new civilization underground.

HG Wells was enthralling to watch and almost comical as he energetically moved about like he was on a dance mat. The only negatives were the slightly underwhelming performance of Marti Pellow of Wet Wet Wet, as his voice in my view just could not match the highs of the previous I mentioned.

But all in all it was great fun, the songs although sometimes lasting about 10 minutes in length, were never boring and only helped create a hypnotic trance and sense of foreboding. This is one I would definitely recommend in buying when its released on DVD and Bluray later this year.

Dexter

Ok I know I am extremely late to the game on this one, but after several recommendations from people I sat down and started watching Dexter on Netflix. I can honestly say I have never been so on edge watching a TV show.  

I’m not a great fan of the horror genre (catching a few scenes from Hostel part 2 a few years ago was enough to put me off) but Dexter ‘cuts’ straight to the ‘meat’ (see what I did there?) of the story. Each episode focuses on Dexter while he works as a blood spatter analyst during the day who turns vengeful assassin at night targeting those that have committed the most heinous of crimes.  

Throughout we hear the thoughts of Dexter as he struggles with trying to appear ‘normal’ to the outside world while remaining conflicted within. It becomes clear that Dexter has had a troubled childhood and murders to give himself a sense of normality. This plays out on screen as Dexter binds victims to tables with cling film, reminds them of their crime and carefully kills them with deadly precision.   

It’s definitely not the show to watch if you are in any way squeamish, the 18 age rating has never been more appropriate.  But thankfully, unlike the so called ‘torture porn’ films such as Hostel, the camera pulls away leaving the audience to imagine the brutality taking place. 

Part of the shows charm is our need to emphasise with Dexter and memories of his childhood help explain how he has become the man he is today.  The first series concludes with an epic finale that has already excited me for what is to come in season 2.  

 I imagine the majority of people saw Dexter ages ago and will shout at me for not watching it sooner. All I can say to them is when I finally get through the next 6 seasons or so (I think the final season is being aired sometime in the summer) I might start watching something totally obscure like Lost. 

A Good Day to Die Hard – A bad night at the cinema *

Some films are subjective. While the brilliance of classic films such as Schindler’s List, A Clockwork Orange and more recently films by the Coen brothers cannot be denied, there are some that cause a divide in opinion. One of the most boring, tedious films I have ever seen for example (those who read my blog will know what I am referring to), is actually regarded by some as a brilliant piece of filmmaking.  So, on the basis of this I completely ignored the mass of negative reviews and went to see the latest Die Hard, A Good Day to Die Hard. In this case the critics were right.

I left the cinema speechless and in awe. And not the good type of awe. I was in awe at how such a brilliant action franchise has been destroyed by a sequel not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Die Hard. I honestly wasn’t sure what was worse, the ridiculously poor script, the completely deadpan acting, or action scenes so over the top they would have felt out of place in a cartoon.  In one scene for example, Mclane and his son outrun an apache helicopter as a machine gun obliterates everything in sight, something even Usian Bolt would struggle to do.  A chase sequence in the beginning goes on for what felt like 20 minutes, and the ending is one of the cheesiest, vomit inducing, finales I have seen in a long time.  

There was no ‘yippie ki yay’ catchphrase, Bruce Willis looked like he didn’t want to be there, and when the main bad guy falls to his death he pulls the most unrealistic comically surprised face even Tommy Wiseau would have had second thoughts about casting him.  

It was all over the place, felt like it was quickly scrambled together after the main action scenes were filmed, and was overall a miserable sequel to what up to now had been a thoroughly entertaining franchise.

Assembly ****

Having enjoyed the dazzling Chinese epics House of Flying Daggers and Hero, Assembly was my first foray into their take on the war genre.  Slow burning dramas such as Trishna, are good but sometimes there is nothing like a good action film to get the adrenaline pumping.

Assembly throws us straight into the action as Captain Gu Zidi leads his infantry unit against rebel forces. In what follows is a brutal battle where Zidi and his infantry must face a determined enemy using heavy shelling, machine guns and tanks to devastating effect. After Zidi manages to survive the attack by stealing an enemy uniform, he is shocked to discover his men were deemed missing in action or deserters, and sets on proving that they fought and died as heroes.

The film is pretty shocking in showing the brutality of war, with graphic scenes of men mutilated by shells or machine gun fire. In one disturbing scene a man sets himself on fire after trying to take down a tank with a molotov cocktail. It's definitely not a film for the fainthearted.

After the first hour or so of intense battle scenes, things take a slower sombre turn when Zidi meets the wife of a man that served with him, learns that the call to assembly (retreat) was never called, and tries in vain to dig up the dead bodies of his fallen comrades.

Although occasionally over sentimental, Assembly is still an essential watch for fans of the genre. 

Unstoppable ****

Just a few words on this film I caught on the box the other night. Unstoppable is a 2010 American film inspired by true events involving a 'runaway train' after the engineer mistakenly left the controls to adjust a line switch. Denzel Washington and Chris Pine star as the two guys left with the responsibility of stopping the train after all previous attempts fail.

The film is a successful thrill ride, full of nail biting moments and non stop action. As usual with these big budget disaster movies there are scenes involving panic stricken officials, crashes, explosions and the underdog becoming the hero. It's sometimes cheesy, formulaic stuff, but it holds your attention right up to the 'will they or won't they' finale.