Obscuriosities

Wow, I really need to get around to writing another 'what I've been watching' post. The list is 11 films and growing. In the meant time I'll knock together a review of The Human Centipede 2 while it's fresh in my mind. Written and directed by Tom Six, Dutch film-maker and creator of the series: The Human Centipede 2 takes place in a world where the first exists as a fictional movie and we follow the protagonist/villain 'Martin' who has fetishized the idea of a human centipede and begins gathering victims to create his own, twelve person abomination. The first thing to note about this film is that it is not simply 'pointless shock value' or 'sick for the sake of being sick', I perceive a very clear message to this film. By having the main character inspired by the first movie, Six is pointing out the absurdity of someone carrying out such crimes because they saw a horror movie as suggested by some of that film's detractors while simul...

So apparently I watch a lot of movies. Project Nim Fascinating doc, ostensibly about a talking chimp, but secretly about human dynamics played out with stunning archive footage. Super James Gunn's  foray into the superhero genre, having come from a horror background and it shows. The 'realistic' super hero subgenre is pretty much played out at this point but this film is so darkly comic and bizarre that it actually feels quite fresh. Ellen Paige is really annoying though. The Guard Hilarious take-down of the buddy cop genre. Great, sharp, dialogue and fun central performances. The Inbetweeners Pretty much an extended episode of the show. Just as puerile and cringe-worthy. Fans of the show will enjoy the crass misogyny but you should probably avoid it otherwise. Red State Interesting career turn from the normally comedy-focused Kevin Smith (of whom I am a fan). This film feels like Smith's attempt at a Tarantino movie with even more hyper-real dialogue tha...

My Top 5 movies from Frightfest 2011, in no particular order: TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL: Brilliantly hilarious farce and deconstruction of the hillbilly horror subgenre. A definite #frightfest highlight TROLL HUNTER: Great fun. 'Cloverfield' by way of 'The BFG'. Sadly missing fe-fi-fo-fum based punning. #frightfest THE WOMAN: Most intense, challenging film of #frightfest so far. DETENTION: Holy shit. Pure visual and aural adrenaline. Feel like I've witnessed the birth of a future cult classic. @JosephKahn #frightfest KILL LIST: I *think* it was one of 'the best of the festival. Slightly impenetrable plot but funny and riveting nonetheless. #frightfest  Below you can see reviews of the rest of the films I saw at the fest. A LONELY PLACE TO DIE: A fitting end to action-thriller fest 2011. See you all next year! (or in the phoenix) #frightfest INBRED: Insanely gory hillbilly horror comedy. Possibly a little mean-spirited but inventive. #frightfest SE...

It's been a while, gang. Let's do some quick reviews. I'll try to keep them to one sentence because I have a short attention span. Horrible Bosses 'King of Kong' director does good comedy, good chemistry between the main cast and the titular bosses are hilarious. The Devil's Double I like Dominic Cooper but his performances here were weak, rest of the cast also a bit crap, poor showing overall. Captain America Middle of the road Marvel movie, nothing to write home about, some of the CG was pretty shonky. Harry Potter 7(b) Some deliciously OTT performances (Snape and Voldy) and some good, dark imagery, one of the better entries in the series. Transformers 3 Say what you will; Bay can direct a thrilling action sequence, vapid pornography but I wallowed in it gladly. Super 8 A fantastic nostalgia trip, 'ET' meets 'Aliens' with a dash of 'The Goonies' thrown in for good measure. Bad Teacher Not as -bad- as the trailer wo...

Since I am in the process of moving, I happen to have no TV or internet in my house at the moment so in lieu of any form of entertainment, it's time for another edition of BULLET POINT REVIEWS. Some of these are going way back so my memory might be a little hazy, also I can't check any facts on-line so this is all popping off the top of my head but I'm going to plough on regardless. -Attack The Block Directorial début of Joe Cornish whom you may know from the Adam and Joe show on BBC 6 music or their late-night Channel 4 show from the 90s. Aliens attack a South London council estate Reminded me of an Amblin movie or a Joe Dante film from the 80s (massive compliment) Good mix of comedy and horror, some brilliantly quotable one-liners Some of the performances great, some a bit pants (to be expected from young first-timers I guess) -Pirates 4 You've probably seen this already since I think about 6 of the 7 billion people on earth did. Captain Jack is back, in search of the...

I'm psyching myself up for FrightFest 2011 already, so in preparation I thought I'd collect together all of my between-movie tweets from last year. Read them from bottom to top for chronological order. Heading to the Phoenix in a bit. Say hello if you see me. Tall guy with glasses. Sad #frightfest is over. See y'all next year!! » Video nasties doc/panel highly enjoyable, how could people go that bonkers? The Dead beautifully made but a bit underwhelming. #frightfest » The Loved Ones a unique and hilarious take on the 'torture porn' subgenre. A good day at #frightfest » Buried is fantastic. One of the best of the fest. Tense, claustrophobic as hell and shot like an action film. Highly recommended.#frightfest » This RT @Meanbobs:Damned by Dawn showed promise for about 15 mins before suffocating it with a plethora of school disco effects. #frightfest » The Pack was original, average. short films a good laugh (papa wrestling + rise of the app...

So, it's been denied a rating by the BBFC. *shrug* So what? What did you expect? The director Tom Six (a wonderfully charming and witty Dutch gentleman) has been claiming (threatening?) that his vision for the Centi-Sequel would make his début effort look like My Little Pony. When you're trying to top a film that is known as one of the sickest of all time, where do you go? You go deeper, you go darker. You go to places that the BBFC don't like you to tread. They are claiming that the film is likely to "risk potential harm... even if confined to adults". That's right, there are theatrical images on a screen that when combined with sounds and music risk potential harm to you, an adult viewer. Is anyone swallowing this? As a fan of horror, I'm all for keeping it out of the hands of children. So rate the film an 18, hell, rate it an R18. Make me go to a sex shop to buy it, under the counter in a brown paper bag if possible, I'd be well up for that. By refu...