richardbrunton:Reviews: Movies

The Jacket sparked some interest for me when it came out because of the unusual plot and the knowledge that it had filmed in Bangour Village Hospital in Scotland. IMDB describes the plot as A military veteran goes on a journey into the future, where he can foresee his death and is left with questions that could save his life and those he loves.

Sounds really interesting doesn't it? It certainly did to me, and it suggested that the plot could be complex, involved and very consuming...yet it kind of failed to deliver for me.

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Transporter 2

Tuesday 29 November 2005 | Movies - 2 Stars | Comments (1)

The Transporter had a great idea for a movie and a superb character to build upon. A man who transported any type of goods for anyone, no questions asked, followed his own set of strict rules, and could seriously kick ass if anything got in his way. The premise was superb, and the movie The Transporter was a seriously good fun action movie that had some over the top and insane stunts you could hardly believe but were superbly entertaining. Then there was Jason Statham who looked great, sounded fantastic, and did a damn fine performance in the role. It was what it was, a great fun action movie.

So when I got the opportunity to see Transporter 2 at the local and excellent Edinburgh Ocean Terminal Vue Cinema I couldn't say no to seeing some insane driving, superb stunts and highly enjoyable entertainment. Sorry Richard, wrong movie.

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Open Water

Saturday 27 August 2005 | Movies - 2 Stars | Comments (0)

This was a bit of a disappointment of a movie, I'd heard a lot about this movie and the tense and unique storyline so I was keen to see it. Low budget, exciting and dramatic I was told. Not so when I watched it.

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MirrorMask

Thursday 25 August 2005 | Movies - 2 Stars | Comments (0)

There is no doubt that this movie is unlike any other around just now. The effects and unusual story line take control of the movie and it's these things that keep you watching, along with the able performance of the lead girl. Unfortunately I found that there was too much of the effects and quirkiness obscuring the actual story, one which is an extremely simple one and was almost identical to that of one of my favourite novels, The Talisman by Stephen King.

So already it was up against a difficult task, but did it take me anywhere I'd like to have gone?

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Gunner Palace

Saturday 20 August 2005 | Movies - 2 Stars | Comments (0)

I'd watched Voices of Iraq earlier in the day and been tremendously impressed, in fact it's been my favourite movie that I've seen during the Edinburgh Film Festival. More than any other to date this movie did to me exactly what I keep talking about when I discuss what makes a great movie.

It moved me, it made me feel a range of emotions throughout the movie, and made me keep thinking about it after I left the cinema, and these are great things for a movie to do.

My expectations were high for this documentary too, it was the flipside of Voices of Iraq in that it was hanging with the US troops stationed in Uday Hussein's former palace, and telling their experiences of Iraq. There had been great things said about it during its screenings in the US, and so we sat down to watch it in the presence of Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein the film makers.

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The Aviary

Tuesday 21 June 2005 | Movies - 2 Stars | Comments (0)

This is going to be a difficult review for me, the movies I review are usually big budget movies using Studio money and tend not to be the product of a few peoples hard earned money and time. There are a few I've already reviews, like Broken, but they've been quite easy since they've been so good. Now you begin to see the difficulty.

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The One

Thursday 17 February 2005 | Movies - 2 Stars | Comments (0)

I didn't want to write this movie off on the reviews and critics in the western world, I mean how wrong have they been about Asian cinema that has now become a staple diet of the Hollywood remake monster? Plus Jet Li is pretty damn cool, and he's made some interesting movies in Asia. So with an open mind I was surprisingly averaged out by this movie.

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Family Man

Sunday 21 November 2004 | Movies - 2 Stars | Comments (0)

A film that seemingly has lots of potential, but is ruined by an overly sentimental story and huge over acting from Nicholas Cage. There are so many points where it's either obvious what's going to happen, or events are just far too cheesily contrived.

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About a boy

Saturday 13 November 2004 | Movies - 2 Stars | Comments (0)

I'd heard some interesting comments about this movie, and that it was going to be much better than the spate of previous romantic comedies as well as the latter films of Hugh Grant - although wouldn't they be one and the same? Needless to say I was disappointed.

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Charlotte Grey

Sunday 10 October 2004 | Movies - 2 Stars | Comments (0)

I am a big fan of Cate Blanchett, and not just because she is stunningly gorgeous, but that she carries the stature and presence of a film star of yesteryear. However, she was sorely underused and was not much more than eye candy in this movie.

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Legally Blonde

Monday 27 September 2004 | Movies - 2 Stars | Comments (0)

Oh dear. Firstly may I just say that I watched this while doing the ironing...I mean, it just happened to be on.

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