[Locke]

Just rewatched The Grey on Bluray:

I know I usually come down on film grain in HD releases as it just doesn't look very good but I'd say The Grey does it better than most, since it rarely intrudes into the gorgeous cinematography. In particularly busy sequences The Grey looks as garbage as I've come to expect from these kinds of Bluray transfers but in quieter sequences it adds a certain harshness to the already harsh conditions, and you can eventually forget about it all together as it does blend into the diegesis well. I'd still always take a clean, crisp finish when it comes to a HD transfer over noisy, grainy pictures but The Grey really doesn't look too bad overall.

Given what has happened to Neeson over the years with his own wife you can tell he's bringing a lot of stuff from deep inside to Ottway while really losing himself in the character. Neeson seems to divide people a lot but I wouldn't believe you if you questioned his talent after watching this, I think this is one of my most favourite performances of all time. Ottway proves a complex and multi layered character who often within the same sequence must dramatically shift from the polar ends of the spectrum emotionally and we spend as much time in the harsh Alaska landscapes as we do inside Ottway's head and heart.

He constantly escapes the harshness of reality into a something that is never quite a memory but never quite a fantasy either where he is reunited with his wife in a warm, clean and sun streaked bed. It isn't until the end of the film, where we get a true idea of what those flashbacks to his wife mean for him as a character and it does a good job of explaining why Ottway is the way he is, in a way that fits the tone of the film. His romanticism of death up until this point becomes suddenly very real, and horrifyingly so.

Ottway's massive size and gruff exterior obviously very deliberately gives him the appearance of some great beast, and with his rich understanding of how wolves operate it is as if he's become a wolf to hunt a wolf. He even makes a joke about becoming a wolf man when he's bitten early on in the film, I like to see this as a self aware nod at himself, which makes Ottway feel real and lived in.

Apparently The Grey was quite proud of its spiritual aspect, appealing to Christian Groups in its marketing, despite this however I'd say the film is the complete opposite of spiritual. When Ottway cries out for help to "The Almighty" he gets nothing and he only ever gets to the point of crying for God's help when all other options are exhausted. The Grey's message is that religion is a last resort for the desperate, not a final hope for the righteous and the only person you can count on, is you. That is about as damning of the Christian Faith and the followers as you can be, without being a satirical political cartoon.

Still, even if it isn't spiritual, Ottway's character arc is still incredibly rewarding. Losing his wife Ottway loses his purpose but somehow this gives his life greater value, as he can prove he is in control of it by taking his own life rather than losing it to something else. However when he survives the plane crash and is thrown into a survival game, death no longer becomes his choice and he then seizes life as a rebellion. Life as rebellion? What a beautiful fucking thing.

There are no fire breathing mutations or building sized wolves here but it doesn't really matter, the wolf pack has organisation and tactics that Ottway's ragtag group lacks which leads them to be fairly swiftly picked off and as Ottway's group struggles through the snow and battles the cold, the wolves are right at home - literally - and make full use of their home turf advantage. A lot of films like to suggest that desperation will save any average man but desperation doesn't help our survivors, if anything it makes it worse for them.

For the most part we never see the wolves bar for quick close ups of eyes and snarling teeth, even when we get full body shots they're disguised by storms and shadows. The idea of them is supposed to be enough to elicit the horror required from the audience, and Carnahan rightly fears any wider reveals of the wolves would slip the film into exploitation territory which would be a giant misdirection considering the tone of the piece. Some have complained the ending is abrupt, myself included, but upon watching this again the ending fits perfectly, especially when accompanied by the after credits shot.

There is never a moment in the film where the weather will give way to the kind of carnage witnessed in the likes of a film directed by Roland Emmerich and once again I feel this is the right decision by Carnahan given the tone of his film. In general Carnahan directs this like a true master, every creative decision feels right for the film and he always feels like he's in total control of his picture. Carnahan has been often remarked as a breed of more intelligent action director but I can't honestly say I've seen much of his body of work, or really cared for what I have seen, but this movie really shows his talent as a filmmaker and I hope he makes more films like The Grey in the future.

If I was to have any real complaints of the film, it'd be the deaths. No film I've ever seen has been able to give every character a death as memorable as one another, but when you see how great the death of characters like Talget can be with the haunting and heartbreaking visit from his daughter in the snow and the similarly heartbreaking but downright fantastic "death" of Ottway, I can't help but feel deaths of other characters - which includes dying in their sleep or simply giving up - lose some impact which takes away from what the film is trying to. Overall a minor complaint, but a complaint is a complaint.

Another - not so much complaint but "audience divider" - will be the films pace. It's two hours long, and although the film wastes little time dropping our men into a survival horror film, once it gets there it takes its time and slows down a lot. If you keep it in mind that this ISN'T an action film, you can enjoy the slow burn of the rising tension, the heavy dialogue and rich character focus but I'm sure there are going to be so many people in the audience who expected a completely different film, which is certainly the marketings fault, and not the audiences. The film is likely to taste pretty sour to them.

Overall, how often do you see a film where the rewards are greater than the concept? In the era of Syfy Originals I'd say almost never. The Grey then, is a breath of fresh air for all genre fans desperate to find a little injection of depth into the things they love. Betrayal by marketing aside, I honestly can't see how anyone could dislike this absolute masterpiece. I'd honestly go as far as to say it's one of the greatest films ever made.

The bluray also comes with twenty minutes of deleted, extended or alternative sequences and most of them prove why they were cut from Ottway being saved by a polar bear to a pointless scene of Flannery getting dragged over a corpse. The little changes, additions and extensions to the campfire sequence though are most welcome and I'm sad they weren't included in the finished product. And the scene of them looting the plane was fun but wouldn't have fit with the film, so it makes sense to cut out, even if it was a good scene.

[Dr Kain]

Night of the Hunter - I was expecting this movie to pretty much just be "The Stepfather" but it turned out to be a lot more than that. It was well done, the kids did a great job at acting, and the pacing was great. I do feel the last five minutes of the movie got a little weird when there was a random angry villagers scene that emerged for no rhyme or reason, but aside from that it was really good. I give it a nice 8/10.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - To get ready for the new one, it was time to rewatch this movie, and honestly, it was an overdue one as I have not seen it since I first bought the BD. The movie is quite good as it really builds up Ceasar's character and hey, a movie where James Franco does not look like he is stoned all of the time. The plot is well done, albeit flawed, but the execution is good and the movie is just enjoyable overall. It is a great start to a rebooted universe and they use the CGI right in this thing. Overall, I give it a nice 7/10.

[Dr Kain]

Aliens vs Predator When Lighting Fails... I mean Requiem - Words cannot describe how much this movie sucks. It is so bad that it makes Alien Resurrection look like Aliens. There is nothing to like at all in this movie. You cannot even say you like the designs of the monsters because you can barely ever see them. The PredAlien looks down right stupid from what you can make of it, and the movie puts plot and character development to the side lines so it can just throw at your action sequence after action sequence without there being any rhyme or reason for it. Everyone in the city is just there to die. What is worse is the fact that these so called Brothers Strause (have no idea what they have done before or after this movie) try to copy things from previous movies and cannot even get it right. They have a character named Dallas, obviously meant to be a homage to Dallas from Alien even though this guy is an utter moron and we know next to nothing about him other than he was once a thief. Then there is some military woman and her daughter, clearly meant to represent Ripley and Newt, but again, without any story to go with it. We are just supposed to like these characters without having a reason to do so. What is worse is the movie goes for shock value with the likes of having a Xenomorph burst out of a child's chest and then the pointless nursery scene. None of it was done for scare factor, it was done to get people talking about the movie to say, "OMG, I cannot believe they did this." There is no reason to watch this movie at all as the effects are crap, the CGI looks like absolute ****, and the Predator is easily the worst design yet. And why would he go to Earth by himself? That makes no damn sense. The only scene that makes this movie worth suffering through is watching the blonde dumbass getting killed by the Predator saw frisbee boomerang thing. She so had her death coming and it was over due. Overall, this movie is nothing but crap and it is pretty much Battlefield Earth bad. It is an insult to everything Scott, Cameron, Weaver, O'Bannon, and Giger created. I give this turdfest a 1/10 stars.

[thunderstrike541]

Grease. Oh. My. God. I freaking LOVE this movie!

*walks away singing Greased Lightning*

[Dr Kain]

The Killing - Aside from the fact that I think this movie should have been called The Mumbling, since that is what a lot of the characters seemed to do, this was fantastic. In fact, I felt like I was watching a Tarantino movie at times because of the way the story was told. It was incredible and right up there with the likes of Touch of Evil, Double Indemnity, and The Maltese Falcon. The story was incredibly told with excellent pacing and the characters were all interesting, even if some of them were under developed. Overall, I give this movie a nice 8/10 and that ending... wow... talk about depressing.

[Locke]

Rewatched Up on 3D Bluray.

"My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you."

Speaking specifically as a Bluray, being that it is a relatively new animation outing by the juggernaut that is Pixar it was gonna be a given that the film looks great anyway and there is no need to really go into it any more than that. What I will say is the 3D was really spotty for me, my TV uses passive 3D and I have to sit 3D glasses over my own (it is not as uncomfortable as that probably reads) but Up is the first movie where I visibly noticed the backgrounds remained out of focus and weren't popping into 3D. I dunno whether it'd be different if you could see or if you had active 3D but I found this distracting in my experience from an otherwise visually splendid film.

And my God is visually splendid a term not up to scratch. The visuals are heavily stylised which I guess is the only real barrier for the audience but other than that, this is just Pixar working its magic once again. I dunno, I guess the great thing about Up's look is it's so...memorable. The image of the cosy pastoral house with the rainbow of balloons coming from the chimney as it floats through the clouds, it's an image you can see so vividly in your mind even after your first viewing. Up may have more emotional depth than it does narrative depth, but the films visuals are what cement this as truly unforgettable.

Honestly though, if I had to pick a word for Up, I wouldn't choose "unforgettable" but "transcendent". Yes Up's plot is paper thin, and held together with clichés but it's such an imaginative, emotionally rich cinematic landscape that it becomes less of a film, and more of an event.

Some films will make your lips quiver, they'll make you chuckle but that is about it, that is the height of your emotional response. Up is the kind of film, where when it makes you laugh, you bellow that laughter at the top of your lungs until tears run down your face and you have to pause the film to catch your breath. Up is the kind of film that when it makes you cry, it leaves you a blubbering mess ripping through boxes of tissues at a time until you have to pause the film to catch your breath. Up is a cinematic experience of the best kind. The ultimate adventure.

Then there are the characters, never before have I loved such a bunch of archetypes. Carl and Russell are nothing new, and neither is their dynamic but they're so richly drawn, feeling lived in and flawed in ways only real humans can be and the film makes us care for them so personally we love them despite their familiarity. In some ways maybe even because of it. The biggest props though, go to Kevin and Dug. One of which doesn't get a line of dialogue and the other where the whole joke is they do.

Some have claimed Up loses its way when it starts to "relax" into a more adventure driven story and if you think that...well done, you just missed the whole point of the damn movie. It's the best Pixar has ever been, every moment in Up feels refined, perfected and complete.

I've seen Up time and and time again in my life but this is the first time I've actually sat down and put my thoughts down on paper and I realised it's probably my most favourite film of all time, and that says something considering my massive love for Blade Runner. I'm so grateful to own it on Bluray so I can laugh and cry and go on this magical adventure over and over again.

[jfblade]

Last night I saw Firefox which stars clint eastwood!

[Locke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfblade

Last night I saw Firefox which stars clint eastwood!

That movie is so awful it's almost profound.

[AkibaSilver]

I watched Tomorrow Never Dies earlier. It was OK, not the best Bond movie ever, but better than A View to a Kill. Practically anything is better than that.

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AkibaSilver

I watched Tomorrow Never Dies earlier. It was OK, not the best Bond movie ever, but better than A View to a Kill. Practically anything is better than that.

Nah, AVtaK has Christopher Walken in it. That automatically makes it better than any Brosnan movie sans Goldeneye.

Actually, I don't hate AVtaK as much as other people do. It is better than some of Roger Moore's movies previous movies, it's just that he looks way too damn old to be Bond in it.