Thor

My second viewing of Thor was just as, if not more, enjoyable. Thor is almost a perfect comic book movie. Its got a perfectly fitting cast to every role, a good script, good action and good balance of comedy and drama.

Upon first hearing about a Thor movie i was excited and nervous. As a comic book fan and a comic book movie fan it occurred to me that a subject like Thor might not be the easiest to bring to the big screen, in fact of all the big marvel comic characters, Thor, must be one of the hardest. But then came a beacon of light, Kenneth Brannagh is attached to direct, at first this may not seem to be something to shout about, but Brannagh is a renowned Shakespearean actor and director and in all the world of marvel no story is more Shakespearean in tone than Thor.

Thor is the story of, well Thor, god of thunder whose father Odin is about to name king of Asgard. But Thor is young and brash and wants to prove himself by attacking the frost giants and breaking a treaty between the two worlds, thus starting a war.
Thor is banished to earth and stripped of his powers as punishment and must prove himself worthy of once again returning to Asgard.

First of all, Thor is one of the more grandiose of all the marvel properties. There's Thor himself, standing tall in blue and yellow armour, blond locks flowing, and clutching Mjolnir, his legendary hammer.
Then there is Asgard, the mystical city of the Norse god with its rainbow road, not the same as the Mario kart one, and majestic landscape. This was always going to be problematic to reproduce this realistically. But they found a way, using the idea of the myth and magic blended with science as stated by Thor himself.

Thor: "Your ancestors called it magic, but you call it science.

 I come from a place where they are one and the same."

The success of this movie comes from the combination of director, cast and story balance.
The cast are perfect for this, newcomer and former Home And Away star Chris Hemsworth is excellent as Thor, he looks the part and plays it to perfection also. He has great presence, can handle action and has good comic timing.
Anthony Hopkins deserves just as much credit for his portrayal of the Norse god of gods, Odin. A character and performance that would be at home in any Shakespearean theatre.
And then there is Loki, Tom Hiddleston, a superb actor giving a spot on performance as the jealous brother and slighted son.
The supporting cast are not to be overlooked ether, Natalie Portman is just fine as the love interest, and Stellan Skarsgard is as reliable as always.

The movie perfectly balance the campness that comes with all comic book properties with serious drama, story and action. The humour is dispersed throughout the film and is never forced or unnatural. The action never goes into the ridiculous and they have managed to portray Thor flying with his hammer in a realistic, as realistic as possible, way.

But with the major influx of super hero movies and studios rushing to get every comic book its own movie, marvel seems to be leading the way with the avengers build up, Iron Man 2 not withstanding.
But with the success of Captain America on top of this, i say role on the Avengers!! 

8/10

My Movie Week 15-21 August

Not a bad week this for movies, all movies have there individual reviews, see below.

Highlights of the week include Hobo With A Shotgun, Capote and The Gaurd. The low poitn was definetey Priest, one of the worst big blockbuster's ive ever seen It was cliched, over done CGI and a desperatly bad script.

The Gaurd was probably the best comedy of the year so far, with Gleasan giving my second favourite perfomance of the year as the unorthadox Garda who get caught up in an international drug smuggling case along with Don Cheadle' FBI agent. The chemistry they have is excellent and really helps to make it a superb comedy.

Hobo With A Shotgun is one of the better results of the 'grindhouse' revival to come in the wake of Tarintino & Rodriguez's double bill. Rutger Hauer gives my favourite perfomance of the year so far as the hobo determineed to clean the streets 'one shell at a time'.

Capote is a wonderful made movie about Truman Capote' journey while writing his book 'In Cold Blood', and probably Phillip Seymour Hoffmans greatest  performance. Wonderful and touching.

Other movies watched this include Alone In The Dark, a movie so bad its amazing an actor as good as Christian Slater was involved in it. I mean it has Tara Reid as a museum curator, enough said!!!
Watched the remake of The Time Machine, second viewing, didnt like it too much the first time round but secongd viewing i liked it a little more. It has a solid first half but a overuse of CGI lets it down. Wild Wild West didnt do tto bad on this viewing ether but still wasnt great.
Finally my horror fix this week came in the form of Orphan, which was dark, edgy and quite twisted.

My movie challenge, the 3-30 Challenge is almost complete, all movies are watchede and in the process of doing my reviews and will post it tomorrow.

In movie news this week, The Lone Ranger has been shelved due to budgetory reasons, which is a surprise considering Johnny Depp was signed on to be Tonto, you would think that a possible frnachise like The Lone Ranger would not just be dropped!! But reports are coming through that it might be saved.
Also it has been announced that Ridley Scott will be returning to Blade Runner, its not been confirmed yet if it will be e sequel or prequel bt Harrison Ford is very doubtful to return. This news has been better received than i would have guessed and to be honest i think could be a good thing, properly done of coars

The best new trailer this week is the creepy and atmoospheric The Woman In Black, Daniel Rdcliffe's first movie post Potter and it loooks good. This could be a proper good ghost story and has the potentional to be a great horror and return Hammer to the top as a horror powerhouse once again.

Well thats my week in movies and it was a good week.

Movie of the week goes to: The Gaurd

Sergeant Gerry Boyle: "I'm irish, racism is part of my culture"

Wild Wild West

Much derided and much hated blockbuster from 1999, i decide to revisit and see if this is as bad as the reputation that it has gathered over the years.

Jim West is a guns-a-blazing former Civil War hero. Artemus Gordon is an inventive U.S. Marshal who excels in disguise. When the United States is threatened by psychotic Confederate Arliss Loveless, President Ulysses Grant teams the duo up to bring him to justice. On a hazard-packed train journey from Washington D.C. to Utah, West and Gordon must combine their skills to best Loveless and his diabolical machines.

As a blockbuster this is a failure and far too over the top CGI effects really take away from the spirit in which this movie was originally intended. Its not a movie to be taken seriously and if you just sit down with no expectations and watch it as a Sunday afternoon family fun movie it can actually be enjoyable.

Will Smith, playing the role he seems to have perfected and is able to mould into any part, ala Men In Black and here, is good, and Kevin Klein is perfect in the role of the slightly eccentric and inventive Marshall.
But the worst thing about this is Kenneth Branagh. The performance he gives can only be for a big paycheck.

But for all the derisive comments and reviews this has got over the years, i have to say that i don't fully agree and think this is a watchable movie.

5/10

Orphan

Had heard this was a god horror, and as it was showing on Film 4 as part of the frightfest season i decide it was about time to check it out. And i was not disappointed!

Dark, edgy, twisted, effective, clever, intense, and blackly comic - one of the best "evil child" films I've seen. Brilliantly acted by the child actors, usually hit and miss in a movie like this, these kids were perfect in this.

Kate (Vera Farmiga) is a recovering alcoholic, after the near death of her daughter and she recently gave birth to a still-born baby girl. She's out of work, and her mother-in-law is a hateful pain in the ass. Things could be going better.
But with the help of her husband and a therapist shes on the road to recovery, and the suggestion that adopting seems like a great solution.

Esther: "I think people should always try to take the bad things that happen to them in their lives,

and turn them into something goo. Dont you?"

Sadly, as we've been informed by a harrowing opening sequence, this is not a movie about things just working out. Instead, the arrival of Esther, a nine-year-old girl from Russia, but orphaned in the US when her previous foster family died in a house fire, serves to expedite the gradual unraveling of a happy home.

Things unravel quickly as it becomes clear that Esther is not all she seems, and seems hell bent on ripping this family apart.
through a serious of events she manages to form a rift between Kate and husband John (Peter Saarsgard) and become feared by both of their kids into silence.

The twist is well handled and suitably creepy, but the movie often falls into horror cliche, especially at the end with the 'almost unkillable' protagonist.

so if you like your horror suspenseful,with a good story and well directed then it is well worth having a look!

7/10

Priest

Well, this was a movie, and you can't take that away from it, but is it a good movie, can't really say that it is.

It should work, priests versus vampires, big action, good cast, Paul Bethany and Karl Urban are great talents in my opinion but it feels like there wasted here. Both are inserted into roles that to be honest are beneath them and could be played by the Mexican non-union equivalent!

The plot is simple, based on a comic book of the same name, vampires, threatened to overrun humanity, but thanks to the church and their priests, highly trained warriors, the vampires have been wiped out. Humanity are then herded into giant walled cities for protection by the church. The priests become obsolete and are reintegrated into society and are all but forgotten.
When Bethany's brother is attacked he defies the church to rise out and defeat this new formed vampire menace, headed by former priest, now human vampire, Karl Urban. All the other vampires being eyeless giant bats.
The church dispatches the remainder of the Priests to bring back Bethany, dead or alive.
Bethany soon discover that the vampires are back and are heading towards the city!
Lots of CGI and lots of action, nether well done enough to raise this movie up to being good. It's full of plot files and ever new scene brings a different trope from almost every action movie.
I'm glad I didn't see it in 3D as it looked like they said, 'this will look cool in 3D', let's do it!

Overall this is a forgettable, far too ambitious but not enough substance, disappointing movie.

eXistenZ

I remembering seeing this when it first came out on video, wow video, that brings back memories, anyway i remember seeing this and liking it, but not really knowing why or fully understanding it.
And after watching ti again i still kinda like it but not sure i fully know why. I understand it a little more now, it's a commentary on the state of technology and in particular video games and how people are becoming more and more immersed in them.

Or its an analogy for anal sex! not sure which, now most people will choose the former as its a little more obvious but if inserting a fleshy, organic tube into a 'port' in the base of your spine isn't an analogy for anal sex then i don't know what is.
But that is Cronenburg and his fascination with body horror, a director who seems to push the boundaries of what he can and cant put in his movies. Crash and The Fly come to mind.
But as a commentary on the influence of video games the movie shows how people can just become totally immersed and far too involved in these games and the consequences there-in.

The story begins with a focus group testing a new video game. The developer of the game Allegra Geller, Jennifer Jason Leigh, is attacked, must escape and hide along with Ted Pikul, Jude Law.
They soon get caught up in a plot to assassinate Allegra while also playing the new game, eXistenZ, to ensure the game is working.

Allegra: "The only way i can tell if everything is ok is to play eXistenZ with somebody friendly.

Are you friendly, or are you not?"

 They become enveloped in the game which soon spirals out of control and leads them into situation that are out of character for Pikul in particular.
Pikul is new to gaming and nervous about having the bio-port installed in the first place as well as being quite uncomfortable while playing the game itself.
Both leads, and Jude Law in particular, are very good in this mind-bending story, and Law's American accent is flawless.

Its hard to talk about this with spoiling parts so if you have not seen it, do not read on.
Within the game, eXistenZ things soon spiral out of control and they find themselves on the run again after killing Chinese waiter with a chicken bone gun that fires human teeth instead of bullets.
It all comes to conclusion after several betrayals and double crosses, with with Allegra killing Pikul.
But not the end, in a further twist all the main characters wake up in a different focus group testing a different game.They begin discussing 'the game' they have just taken part in, in their proper accents i might add and the final twist, Jude Law and Jennifer Jason's charter kill the game developer, mirroring the game!

The movie features a great supporting cast including Christopher Eccelston, who gets far too little time, William Defoe as the slightly eccentric Gas and Ian Holm, who is always reliable.

This movie draws Matrix comparisons due to the content and the fact that they came out the same year, but now it can be compared more with Inception.

Still its a great movie and Cronenburg's direction is superb, the effects are solid and the body horror/gore elements while gruesome are never overdone or off putting.
Recommended for fans of Cronenburg and those who enjoy movies that require a bit more to the plots.

7/10

Capote

A movie i have been meaning ton watch for a long time, and now that i have seen it, I'm annoyed with myself for not watching it soon, not just for the great subject matter and story but mostly for the performance of Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the celebrated writer Truman Capote.

This movie recounts the true story of how Truman Capote, celebrated author of short stories, plays and novels, as he begins investigating the brutal murder of The Clutter Family in 1959's Kansas.
The movie first shows us Capote as the life and soul of the party in New York, recounting tales and entertaining all.
But upon reading of the shocking murder of a family of 4 in the small town of Holcomb, Texas he decides to go and investigate for the New York Times with fellow author Nelle Harper Lee. He soon becomes deeply involved with the killers, and befriends one in particular, Perry Smith, and soon struggles to understand how the seemingly erudite, sensitive Perry could have committed such a terrible crime.

The investigation soon becomes the subject of Capote's new book, a revolutionary new style of true life novel. He spends as much time as possible, to the detriment of his other relationships, with Perry. But with all the time spent with Perry still doesn't get him the story of the night of the murders, which he needs for the book to be a success.

His growing obsession leads him to try and help with the murderers appeal but ultimately fails.
Unlike the book the movie focuses on the relationship between Perry and Capote and the contradictory feelings he develops that seem to torment Capote throughout his research for the book. knowing that he cannot finish the book until the men are hanged seems to further his anguish
The movie is all about Seymour Hoffman's performance, capturing all that made Truman Capote unique. The uncanny performance not only captures the unique voice  and mannerisms but he seems to inhabit the mans sole  and express every emotion and feeling that Capote must have felt throughout without falling into caricature!!

Capote: "Ever since i was a child, folks have thought they had me pegged,

because of the way i am, the way i talk.

And they are always wrong!"

Thankfully Seymour Hoffman's performance is not the only jewel in the crown of this magnificent movie.
The Script, directing and solid supporting performances all help to make this a movie that is fascinating, touching and utterly compelling.

9/10

The Time Machine (2002)

HG Wells' classic tale is remade, this time round it's Guy Pierce as our time-travelling hero who travels far into a post-apocalyptic future to a world with  naive race of people living above ground and vicious Morlocks who hunt them from their underground home, leading our time traveller to choose whether to help or Return to his own time!

The movie starts a a well made Victorian period piece with professor Hartdegen, a genius scientist who after the tragic death of his sweetheart becomes obsessed with time travel and saving her.
But he soon finds he can't and decides to travel forward and discover why.
After visiting several future times, where he meets a hologram  in a library providing us with done information and that while trying to colonise the moon it has been damaged and is causing an apocalyptic event on earth.
80,000 years into the future he discovers a slightly primitive civilisation who live a naive existence with the constant threat of the subterranean Morlocks!

The first half of the movie is really good, solid script, and good performance, but the later half falls into the CGI trap and relies too much on this to provide the action, and Jeremy Iron's uber-morlock who controls the rest with telepathy, but resorts to a basic and boring fist fight aboard the time machine. It feels like the movie just got away from them them a little and the spirit of the original was slightly lost and you are left with the same thought as out titular hero

Hartdegan: "You're forgetting one thing. What if?"

Guy Pierce's performance is pitch perfect and even Samantha Mumba was watchable. but he final act leaves a slightly bitter taste in the mouth.

I would recommend watching the original first and then viewing this. Still its an enjoyable enough watch.

6/10

The Guard

I had the pleasure of going to a special preview of this on Tuesday night followed by a Q & A with the director, John Micheal McDonagh.
Being an irish movie i was veru eager to see it, and it was released weeks ago in ireland which meant a long wait while my friends told me how good and hilarious it is, so an early preview was great!

I sat in the cinema, a little nervous to be honest, as i really wanted it to be as funny as the reviews from ireland promised. The movie was introduced and we were informed that it had overtaken one of my personal favourite movies, In Bruges, which incidently is director by the brother of John Micheal McDonagh.

The movie started, and from the opening scene i dont think i stopped laughing throughout. The plot consists of unconventional and oftewn questionable Sergent from a small village in the west of Ireland gets caught up in a international drug smuggling operation that brings FBI agent played by Don Cheadle to help.

You can tell from the off that McDonagh has an ear for the irsih sense of humour and captures Gleasoos almost happy-go-luck Garda to a tee, but the star of this is Gleason. Brendan Gleason is one of irelands finest comedic actors. His Garda, Sergent Gerry Boyle, is a cross between Father Ted and Bad Leutenant, is a very complex character who at times almost disgusts but you never dislike this unorthodox character who does his best, while not always legally, to save the day.

Don Cheadle enters as FBI agent Wendell Everett, on the hunt of international drug dealers about to make an enormous deal landing on Garda Boyles patch. This brings together the buddy cop element of the movie amd the tension result in the reluctant patnershipt between the two leads to comedy gold.
Quality irish character actors such as Liam Cunningham and David Wilmot provide fantastic support aswell as the always reliable Mark Strong turning in a quality performance as the disallusioned drug trafficer who talks philosophy with his fellow traffickers.
The script is frequently hilarious and has a lot of fun with cop movie clichés like police briefing rooms and crime scenes; there are also several very funny running jokes, most notably Boyle's constant digs at American cops and cop shows.

The Gaurd is one of the finest comedies of the year, and in my opinion the best of the year so far, and  cant see any movie being funnier this year.

If you enoy your comedy with a little bit of edge and laugh out loud from start to finish then this is for you!!

9/10

Alone In The Dark

Had no idea  what this was when i came across it on lovefilm player while looking for a little late night horror. Unaware that it was a video game movie and that it was, well, not very good.

Firstly it stars Christian Slater, an actor ive admired ever since i saw the questionable Gleaming The Cube, but at the time skateboarding was my sport of choice. And usually seeing  Slaters name on the cast list will warrant a watch from me, even though they havent all been gold like Gleaming The Cube!
But it wasnt long before i was regretting my decision to as i saw a support in this came in the form of Tara Reid!! And after watching this i am convinced that she is a great atcress, cause lets be honest she must have to work really hard to be this bad.

The basic story is Slater, a paranormal investigator and former goverment operative, is trying to uncover an event that happened to him and others while in an orphanage, all to the back drop of a scientist who has done experiments on these children using knowledge from an ancient civilisation who were extremely advanced and mysteriously disappeared.........................
Oh sorry drifted off to my happy place there, yes that is the plot, and there is CGI monsters trying to take over too.

Stefen Dorff also makes an appearance as Slaters opposite and a bit of an antogonist untill they have to put ther differences aside to fight the ultimate evil as ........................................
Woah drifted off again, i do apologise!!

This movie should be among those SyFy movies being churned out the past few years and amung them would be ok but i takes itself way too seriously and tries to punch way above its weight.
Slater phones in his performance but even that elevates him far above the rest of the cast. Tara Reid is so bad its laughable, the GGI is terrible and the plot is so ridiculous that it stops being important.

I really cant recommend this for anything other than ridicule.

1/10

Hobo With A Shotgun

First things first, director Jason Eisener has to get his first nod for outstanding casting, i mean Rutger Hauer is the Hobo With A Shotgun, and while not the original hobo from the faux trailer the movie is based on, a more perfect itinerant vigilant cleaning up the streets 'one shell at a time' couldn't be found. This tale of one hobos journey to clean up the street of a town gone almost to hell is blood, violent and totally compelling to watch in all its visceral glory.

But i get ahead of myself, its important to know where this movie came from to understand why it has become so popular. It began with Robert Rodriquez and Quentin Tarantino decided to revive the a form of low budget genre cinema with the movie of the same name, Grindhouse. This consisted of a double feature in the style of the grindhouse movies. But most people are unaware of what grindhouse actually means, the term grindhouse is not a genre of movies as is commonly believed but comes from the cinemas in which they were shown. These cinemas were former burlesque theatres where striptease shows featuring 'bump & gring' dancing, hence, Grindhouses!!
But the name is now commonly associated with low budget, exploitation and genre movies that were produced en masse to be shown in these theatres round the clock!
Hobo With A Shotgun came about through a competition to create a trailer to accompany the 'grindhouse' movies of Tarintino & Rodriguez. The self funded trailer was a hit and and the full movie was funded and here we are.

The story begins with our afore mentioned 'Hobo', Rutger Hauer arriving in town via freight train and soon discovering the reason the towns sign has been defaced from 'Hopetown' to 'Scumtown'! Its not long before he witnesses the full extent of this lawless town, seeing a homeless man being beaten and filmed, 'bumfights' style. He also witnesses a Santa Clause dressed paedophile making his getaway with a child, child prostitution and eventually witnesses street justice preformed, and the key word being performed, by the ultimate villain of movie, The Drake, performed to perfection by Brian Downey.
The hobo saves and tries to help Abby, a local prostitute, escape from the town and life. All the hobo wants to do is get enough money to buy a lawnmower for his lawn mowing business, he even has a slogan 'You mow it, I cut it!!'.
But its not long before he gets dragged into being a vigilante killer and acquires his shotgun. he then goes about cleaning up the street one shell at a time!
The villains throughout are over the top, violent and utterly entertaining. The Drakes sons, Slick and Ivan, are almost stereotypical 80's kids, with their sports jackets and large shades, and take great pleasure in dishing out kickings with ice-hockey skates.

Drake: "Summon the Plague"

And then there is the Plague, and any description that i can produce here Will do no justice to how awesome these armoured, bike riding bounty hunters are. And if the Plague doesnt get their own spin-off movie there is no justice in the world!

While packed with uber violence, from head smashed with bumper cars to a school bus of kids being torched there are a few underlying commentaries that the director seems to be making, mostly about the film making. The bum fights filmmaker seems to represent the low budget indie filmmaker while the Drake is the big studio exec who will stop at nothing to entertain, specifically using sex and violence to do so. This may be the directors way at commenting on the state of movie making at the moment.

But whether you choose to look at the movie like this or just jump on and enjoy the ride, it is enjoyable none the less!
Rutger Hauers performance as the hobo is spot on and his speech to the babies is one of the many highlights in the movie.
This movie has succeeded where others have failed by making a low budget genre piece that has mass appeal and is thoroughly entertaining. Cannot recommend this enough!!!

9/10

1981........3-30 Challenge

As I've stated in the previous post I am starting my '3-30 Challenge' with 1981.

I have done my research, and compiled a list of unseen movies, narrowed them down and placed them into the appropriate categories and picked 3 to watch according the criteria previously mentioned.
And here there are:

1) Escape To Victory
2) Body Heat
3) Dead And Buried

The 3-30 Challenge

The movie challenge that i set myself which also started the blog is the '3-30 Challenge'.
The basis of this challenge is to watch three previously unseen movies from every year since 1981, my year of birth.
i am going to try and cover each year in no more than a fortnight, but hopefully in a shorter time period than that.
I am also going to apply certain criteria to the movies i watch, these are as follows:

- One movie is to be chosen from Highest Grossing, Classic/Great Movies and Award Winners.

- The second will be chosen from Independent Movies, Foreign and Hidden Gems.

- The last will be a genre pick, most likely Horror, Sci-Fi and occasionally Action.

Theses criteria are pretty loose but gonna try and keep some semblance of order to he challenge. The hope is to discover some previously unseen greats.
I will also include my top 5 of the particular year from those I have seen at the beginning and at the end perhaps one of my picks will make it onto the list.

I will be starting with 1981.

Welcome to The Movie Pilgrim '81

Well hello and welcome to my movie blog, The Movie Pilgrim '81.

I hope you can join me as i journey through the broad, varied and daunting world of movies.

I have been a movie fan for as long as i can remember, and have finally decided to write about it and share my views with the world, or realistically to anyone who stumbles across this blog whilst looking for something a little more worthwhile.
But if you have stumbled by and like what you read please let me know, i would love to know that someone out there is getting something from my views on the medium of film!

A little about me i suppose, i am a 30 year old Irishman living in London. As stated earlier i have always loved movies and they have always been a big part of my life. Horror and Sci-Fi are the genres that dominated my youth but as i grew i gained a love for all genres and soon began to expand my viewing and enrich my intake of movies.
Now i watch all sorts of movies from all genres and from all countries, and I'm under the firm belief that everything deserves a chance.

A decision i made a while back has prompted me to start this blog really, i decided to streamline and challenge myself a little with my movie viewing.
I am setting myself several challenges mostly to add a little more order to my really random movie watching and hopefully discover and most of all enjoy some movies that i may never have previously.

Starting today (08/08/2011) i am beginning my 3-30 Challenge which involves me watching 3 previously unseen movies from each year since 1981, the year i was brought screaming into this world.

I have several other challenges for myself but those will be revealed soon also, so stayed tuned.

I will also be posting about what i watch, probably doing some reviews on what i watch and on fairly large post once a week with details of everything, my favourite movie of the week and other little bits and pieces. I will also reveal more about myself and my favourite movies, i will also be compiling my tops/favourite lists from all genres, as well as my views on news and topics that will come up.

Please forgive my probably amateurish approach to this at the beginning, i hope to get the hang of this as time goes on and make a little more polished.

So if anyone does read i hope you enjoy it and feel free to comment.


Luke J
The Movie Pilgrim