For Pete’s Sake

Director: Francis Lawrence
Year of Release: 2007
Genre: Action / Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Run Time: 101min

In this modern adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel of the same name we see Will Smith play virologist Robert Neville who it seems is the last human alive after some sort of viral brake out of a man made virus. Living in a post-apocalytic New York City his day is regiment during the day and by night he locks down where he lives and sleeps in fear of the mutant victims of the plague. He lives there still because it’s “Ground-Zero” and the best place for him to work on a cure.

Directed by Francis Lawrence (Constantine) this is a movie I had look forward too since I saw its first teaser trailer. I’m a fan of Will Smith, it seems even when the movie he’s in is awful he some how makes it bearable to watch, Wild Wild West being case in point. The premise and story of the movie is one that quite nicely unfolds as you watch the movie in a series of flashbacks and recorded news programs. In these we see where it all started, an idea of what went wrong and then in current time where it stands. Although this is a tried and test method of story telling it works well and suits the movie. Smith brings and delivers some light hearted asides and along with his trusted canine companion it seems Neville is quietly but diligently working towards a cure. However things aren’t that simple. Years living on his own is slowly driving him to a psychological breakdown, even with his attempts (shop dummies dressed up and treated as real) to somehow inject interaction into his life, these are slowly becoming ineffectual.

Now for the first time in a while I had actually read a review of this movie before I saw so had a view of someone else mildly influencing mine. However, on the many of the points that review picked out I disagreed on. I won’t pick out point by point but the main was the “mutant” humans. The review said the were too otherworldly or alien like but to me there were still human just no hair and lots more strength and a lust for anything with meat attached. I found the directing of the movie competent if nothing special and the acting from Smith being one of his best.

It’s is a very good movie and one to watch if you can it’s worth the admission ticket and isn’t overly long or too short to not tell the story properly. The other nice things about it is that it is clever enough in parts that you engage the brain but has enough no-brainer action to keep one entertained.

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Well as you can probably tell I’ve started writing reviews, mostly, ok all so far, of movies. Those that know me or have ever been to our house know I have and watch a lot. So far my collection is tipping 300 and figured I should do what I started to do on an older site I once had, review them. Now I won’t review all of them as some are TV box sets, but hopefully at some point, I’ll get them all reviewed.

So aside from that is there anything else going on in my life? Well yes, one thing in particular I’ll keep to myself, but other than that a not a lot has happened. My project is a little further on than it was an I’m a little happier with that know that I’ve at least started something and that’s really it. Boring I know, but right now there isn’t much going on. Maybe when I’m working and I get out of education more will happen. I would bore (and possible give you TMI) about my toe, but less to say it’s been looked into. It also means I’m taking some antibiotics so no alcohol for me, shame really but that’s life.

Other news though, United are still top of the league, so I’ve always got something to smile about.

Director: Todd Phillips
Year of Release: 2003
Genre: Comedy
Run Time: 92mins

When Mitch Martin (Luke Wilson) comes home early from a boring conference he finds that his girlfriend, Heidi (Juliette Lewis) is cheating on him. As he looks to rebuild his life his friends Frank & Beanie (Will Ferrell & Vince Vaughn) are there to help him out who are themselves are disenchanted with life. He finds a new house not far from the University where Mitch hopes to rebuild his life. What the didn’t expect was that the Dean of the University (Jeremy Piven) turns out to be a kid they picked on at school. He gleefully announces that the house Mitch just bought is now University property and they are to be evicted. So in a battle to keep the house Beanie turns Mitch’s new place into a fraternity and all hell breaks loose.

The movie is a particular favourite of mine. Although not on a par with some of my all time favourite comedies it is definitely a movie I can watch more than once. There are some wonderful one liners and gags that still make me laugh. I must also point out that while I’m not a fan of every movie Will Ferrell is in, he is very funny in this one. Luke Wilson is also very good in this movie but personally I feel Vince Vaughn steels the show on this one. The acting all round is pleasing for a modern comedy where it’s more visual than quick whit.

There isn’t really much of a story, it’s more of a journey through a month of Mitch’s life. In this month he manages to find himself and reboot his life but not in the way he was thinking and I like that. Rather than try and be complex and funny it just goes for the simple stuff which works well. It doesn’t try to be something it isn’t and is very funny in doing so.

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Director: James Cameron
Year of Release: 1986
Genre: Action / Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Run Time: 137min (Theatrical) / 154min (Director’s Cut)

Seven years after the release of the original Alien film director James Cameron, who had just started making a name for himself, directed a sequal to what some consider to be one of the best Sci-Fi movies ever. Hoping to break to mold of sequals being inferior to the original, this 2hr plus movie hoped to take you on one helluva ride.

I re-watched this movie today to see if it still kicked ass and the jury is in and they say it’s still one of the best. When I sat down and watched it I was still at awe with the movie. Yes the special effects are ropey by todays standards but when a movie is over twenty years old you expect that. Even so, there are only a few bits and pieces of the SFX which are dodgy, the rest are still jaw-dropping, the Alien Queen being a case in point. The fist fight between the loader and the Queen at the end, it all still looks fresh to me. The bad points though are the shots of the dropship flying and perhaps the final explosion but they are only on screen briefly and can hardly tarnish the movie.

So what of the story? Well, we pick up 57 years after the events of the original movie. Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) escape pod she used to escape from the aliens in the original Alien movie is found by a deep salvage team and is rescued. Here she learns how long she’s been out there and that her daughter who was 10 when she left, died two years previously. With this news Ripley is put infront of a disciplinary board who refuse to believe the story of how and why she destroyed the Nostromo. Not only that but colonists are currently terraforming LV-426 (the planet the Nostromo set down on). It’s only a matter of time and not long after these events contact is lost with the colony on LV-426. Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) asks Ripley to join him and a team of Colonial Marines on a mission to find out what has happened to the colonists. After much thought Ripley decides to tag along.

The movie is a tense one. Even though I knew exactly what happens and when, it still made me jump at the right points. This is a testament to the films score and Cameron’s directing. The tension is built up beautifully and when the moment comes a quick crash from the music just makes your heart race. Visually, as mentioned earlier, it still makes you sit up and take notice. In a nutshell the movie is simply timeless. Even by todays standard of special effects it can hold its own against many modern offerings. What it can also do is show how movies of this genre should be made and oh how I wished Aliens versus Predator would have followed this mould.

Overall this movie is still a fantastic watch but if you are going to rent/buy make sure it’s the director’s cut. This version adds some key scenes to the movie which really help tell the story properly. Definately a top 100 movie of all time.

Rating:

Well, with my birthday gone it was time to do a little (well that’s really an understatement) birthday spending. First off I bought myself a couple DVDs with some Amazon gift vouchers I received so I picked up Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Harry Potter & The GoF and Jarhead. All of which I have seen but those who know me know that I can really get an unlimited replay value from DVDs. I’ve also still to watch the Stargate SG-1 box set I got, can’t wait to dig into that. I’m a sucker for sci-fi. My Amazon wish list is full of SG-1, Enterprise, DS9 & Voyager box sets to buy. Costly, but one day I may own them all.

I also received a large amount of money for my birthday which has allowed me to do two things I’ve contemplated for a long while. Firstly, to replace my ipod as I’ve been dying to get my hands on one of the current gen ipods; and secondly to buy an iMac. I will still be keeping my main PC as it has the most storage (around 500GB) and has a lot of stuff on there that I couldn’t put elsewhere but since I bought my iBook last year I miss a lot of the functions that MacOS offers. Quite often I’ll be hitting F9 or alt+w whilst at a Windows machine and well, I do like Macs. So yeah, I’m really looking forward to that, should arrive by tomorrow if the despatch information is correct. I haven’t used the new ipod as I’m going to connect it solely to the iMac so I’ve had to be a good boy and not connect to my iBook or PC.

On other, rather sad news, a family friend of ours who Catrin knows more than I do is very, very ill and, according to all news, may not last much longer. It’s been a big drain on Cat and with her visiting her mother tonight no doubt it’ll be the topic of the conversation on the trip from the Convent to Seend. It’s been a big test for the both of us as something this big so early in our marriage has been a bit testing. The problem being is I’m sort of detached in a way from the situation. Although I know the person and have met them a few times I don’t have the connection that Catrin, Mair and her mother have. It has caused a couple mini-disagreements between us and while it’s nothing major I’m just slightly annoyed with myself. It’s always major to lose someone you know even more so when you’re heavily involved in the situation as Cat is. I know that she knows I’m here for her and everything it’s just every now and then I wish I know what I should be saying.

Switching topic as that is way too sombre a way to finish a blog post I’ve been most chuffed with United’s last two performances. We beat Liverpool and then, yesterday, we demolished Bolton in a very clinical way. Shame the Steelers can’t match them as last week we lost again. The match was a gripping one and I really thought we’d done enough to win. However it went into overtime and we lost as they scored on the first drive with a field goal. Oh well, I guess that’s sport for you I just hope we can turn it around soon ya know?! Long ways to go in the season in both respects but I feel United could be a real challenge for Chelsea this season. Finally though on a side note, Morton (where a lot of my relatives live), lost they’re unbeaten record this week losing 3-2 yesterday. Shame really but we’re still top and that’s key and with any luck we could be going up to the Scottish First Division, time will tell no doubt.