This is a movie about a manned mission's Last Days on Mars. So this makes it one of the few movies that says it all in the title itself.
Aurora Mission...
Duration: 6 months...
Remaining time: 19 hours...
It is their last excursion out in the sands of the Red Planet. Kim, an ambitious and now disillusioned scientist, is busy collecting the last samples they would take back home. Samples, that she dejectedly observes, are as sterile and fruitless as the ones they have been collecting for the past 6 months... As she is driven back to base by the team 'chauffers' (would the term "Rover Driver" sound funny?) Campbell and Lane, another scientist, Marko, prepares to go out. He claims that he needs to check "a Gamma sensor that's not responding", something he confesses he forgot to check. As he heads out, Kim, his obvious rival, becomes suspicious. She checks his workstation. What she finds out implicates two things: one - Marko lied, and two - he may have stumbled upon a profound discovery... And then disaster strikes...
The story is strictly okay. On the sci-fi front, it does not explore any new ideas. On the action front, it does not add any unnecessary and unrealistic stunts. On the thriller-horror part, it delivers shocks and jolts with the pitch-perfect timing. The characters are neither too shallow, nor too detailed. Some of the characters are well-sketched enough to fit into the plot. <Spoiler> The idea that the very first discovered extra-terrestrial bacteria should turn humans into zombies, is quite preposterous, not to mention a bit difficult to digest... </Spoiler>
The special effects are quite nice. The spaceship, the base and the rovers are depicted very nicely. Can't comment on the depiction of the Mars itself. Never been there, you know ;-P... But it looked too drab, like some desert on earth itself viewed through an orange red filter. Maybe the red planet is as arid and drab as depicted in the movie? Who knows? The sets and props of the insides of the rovers and the base are good enough enough. Some of the scenes shot through the dark, abandoned and wrecked corridors and rooms of the Base well shot enough to make one's hair stand on end.
Almost all the performances are good enough. Liev Schrieber, who plays the role of Vincent Campbell, steals the show. He fits the role of the reluctant protagonist like a glove on the hand - so much so that he almost defined the character by his performance. I also liked the performances of Olivia William (as Kim Aldrich, the scientist), Elias Koteas (as Brunel, the leader of the team) and Romola Garai (as Lane).
This is the second sci-fi movie of this year (2013), that I liked because it steers clear of unnecessary dramatics (the first one was Europa Report - which is a better movie than this one though). And therein lies its charm... It refrains from taking the well-trodden path of a typical action-packed horror-thriller in space. It keeps everything low-key. And yet manages to deliver thrills and jolts at exactly the right places and manages to maintain a steady pace. There is action, yes, but its pretty realistic. No extraordinary stunts. No super-human feats. And yet, it manages to entertain. In short the movie is very well executed and well directed.
In short, it is certainly worth a watch at least once.
My Rating: 2.5
After watching V/H/S, the first Horror Anthology in this series, I was a bit apprehensive about watching this one. Not only because such serial movies tend to become repetitive, losing the novelty of the first one. But also due to the fact that the first movie did not impress me so much. Yet, I decided to give this one a try. And I can't say I was disappointed. Not that this movie was very impressive or ground-breaking or anything. For it suffers from the same handicaps that the first movie did. But it also scores as good as the first one for exploring some original ideas.
Just like the first movie, this too is an anthology of horror short films, each one directed by a different director, and each one exploring an individual unrelated story. Each short film uses the now well-worn found-footage format. And one of the shorts is used as a frame narrative, which also acts as an individual story on its own.
The movie starts off with "Tape 49" directed by Simon Barrett. This one acts as a frame narrative, within which the other stories take place. It tells the story of a P.I. who has been commissioned by a college student's mother to investigate her son's disappearance. While searching through the abandoned and dark home of the college student, they stumble upon a series of VHS tapes. While the P.I. search the house, his colleague plays the tapes to get a clue as to the missing student's whereabouts. This frame narrative story is even more drab and mediocre than the frame narrative story of the first movie. It tries to explain how viewing the tapes can lead to disastrous circumstances (duh!). There are hardly any surprises and shocks. The story is uninspired. The direction appears awkward. On the whole, I personally did not like it very much.
The next story is "Phase I Clinical Trials" directed by Adam Wingard. There is one thing I really liked about the first movie. That is the use of various types of hidden cams, including a spy cam on eye-glasses. This movie takes a giant leap further in that regard. For example, in this story, the hidden camera is located within the eye-implant of the protagonist. Neat, huh!? A guy, who has nearly lost his vision of one of his eyes in an accident, is fitted with an artificial implant that will help him see again from his impaired eye. It is an experimental device and hence the company will be capturing the footage of whatever the man views through his eye and saving it for a few days, for testing purpose only. But guess what? The guy starts seeing people that aren't supposed to be there... The premise of the story is pretty interesting. Its jolts and shocks are effective enough. So is some of the explanation that comes forward in the form of a girl who comes to the protagonist's help. On the whole, this story was quite better as compared to the other stories in the lot...
The next one is "A Ride in the Park" directed by Eduardo Sánchez and Gregg Hale. It is a short story about horror that takes place inside some sort of national park. Its a zombie story (which is not surprising considering that the Z-word is the new magic buzz-word in Horror movies nowadays, isn't it?). There is one area in which this movie pushes the boundaries of the shaky camera genre even further - that area being, the placement of the camera. In this short story, the camera is located on the helmet of a cyclist who has turned into a zombie. Apart from this very novel idea and an excessive amount of blood, gore and disemboweled zombies, this short film doesn't have anything interesting.
The next one is "Safe Haven" directed by Timo Tjahjanto and Gareth Huw Evans. This one is Indonasian. It is also the longest story in the batch. And personally, I think it is the best one in the anthology. A news crew approaches the "father" of a reclusive religious cult. They are invited to interview him and visit the cult's abode. What they discover there makes a pretty interesting good old-fashioned traditional horror tale.
The last story is named "Slumber Party" directed by Jason Eisener. It is about a slumber party held by a bunch of kids at their home - an open property complete with a barn - near a big lake. There is sibling rivalry and fun and frolic. All is going well until they spot unusual lights on the lake. This one is the most uninteresting story of the lot. Except for one novel innovation. The hidden camera that captures most of the footage of the episode is mounted by one kid on the head of their pet dog!
This movie certainly scores points for pushing the frontiers of the shaky camera sub-genre beyond what its predecessor did. And it loses some points for a few script as well as directorial failures similar to ones evident in some of the stories from the first movie. It has a lot of unnecessary blood and gore and a couple of unnecessary sexually explicit scenes. But some of its stories are so good that they make it a worthwhile watch, at least once, if not more.
My Ratings: 2
The movie starts with a young fellow approaching a stately manor-like home in the country-side. As he approaches the house, he hears a voice floating his way from the gardens. Assuming that the voice probably belongs to the owner of the house, he tries to find its source through the green foliage. But he is in for a surprise. For what looks like mere green foliage is actually a Garden maze. And the owner of the house is sitting right in the middle of it, narrating a story and recording it... The owner is Andrew Wyke, a middle-aged, wealthy and famous detective fiction writer. The young man is Milo Tindle, a self-made hair-dresser, who has been invited by Andrew Wyke for a little chat. Milo is also the guy having an affair with Andrew's wife. Andrew knows about this. And makes no effort to hide the fact. On the contrary, it is about the same topic that Andrew wishes to discuss with young Milo... But not all is as it seems...
This is how the movie starts... And one would never guess the many twists and turns it takes, navigating through plots and sub-plots, before this roller-coaster ride finishes off, leaving the audience dazed and enthralled.
As the name suggests this movie is a detective / mystery story. But don't be fooled by the name. You may not encounter a sleuth in the movie for at least the first half. And when a sleuth does appear on the scene, he is not your traditional arm-chair detective, but your regular police investigator.
The story is extremely well-crafted. Its quite a lengthy movie - 2 hours 18 minutes long. And there are at least two instances during this lengthy movie, that one might feel that now the story would end indeed. But it doesn't. In spite of it being so lengthy, it hardly ever looses pace or gets boring or tedious. It is like a nicely wound machine, ticking away like clockwork, precisely delivering surprise after surprise at regular intervals... There are instances where, if you stop to think, you are bound to find some holes in the plot. But seriously, if you let it catch you by the collar and drag you along with it, you will never really stop to think...
The wisecracking exchanges between Milo and Andrew during the first half of the movie are so witty and interesting, that the viewers are hooked within the first few minutes. It is surprising how the script manages to build the characters and convey so much through spoken dialogue alone. Sometimes the dialogue does appear a bit awkward, unnecessary or out-of-place, but the viewer is usually too engrossed in the movie to notice it.
The characters are quite well-sketched, not only of Milo and Andrew who are present in front of us, but also of certain other characters like Andrew's wife Marguerite, who never really appears in person, throughout the movie, and yet we get to know her quite well through the dialogues, thanks to the well-crafted script. Especially the characters of both Milo - an ambitious and self-made man, and Andrew - an egotistic, prejudiced, old-fashioned, pompous, sometimes immature rich guy are very well-portrayed.
The performance is brilliant. Both by Laurence Olivier who plays Andrew Wyke and by Michael Caine who plays the role of Milo Tindle. At first I thought Michael Caine's acting was a bit amateurish. But by the time the movie ends, we are presented with his formidable acting skills, which may seem to overshadow even the brilliant performance by Laurence Olivier himself.
Attention is given to the finest details in the movie. The sets and the props are very intricately designed - right from the portrayal of the garden maze, to the various games and "Automata" ("and they all work" as Andrew Wyke proudly says) peppered around Andrew Wyke's house. The detailed set of the house and various props in it serve well to define certain aspects of Andrew Wyke's character as a person who loves games-playing.
This is one brilliant gem of a movie that I am sure to enjoy watching many more times. For though the plot will lose its surprises and twists after the first viewing, the movie will never lose its entertainment value for me, thanks to the refreshing performances, the eye-candy of the detailed sets and the witty and entertaining dialogues that made it a memorable flick indeed...
My Ratings: 3.5
Lawrence Jamieson is a proud prince
of some small far away kingdom. His royal Highness operates out
of Beaumont-sur-Mer, a beautiful little place located in what they call
as the French Riviera. His major occupation is to get help in the form
of hefty donations from the rich ladies who visit the place, in order to
help the cause of his enslaved people. All is going well, until one day
he stumbles upon one Freddy Benson, an American, who is in the same
line of work as himself. Except for the fact that Freddy is trying to
get help for his very sick Grandmother.
There is just one problem. Actually a
set of problems. Namely, Freddy is fishing in the same waters as
Lawrence. He is younger. Less experienced. Not to mention, an utter
moron, according to His Highness.If nothing else, he would scare away
the fish on which Lawrence relies on for his living. So Lawrence tries
to convince, persuade, or scare Freddy in order to leave voluntarily.
But to no avail. The young cocky grandson of a very sick grandmother
becomes the thorn in the backside of his highness - a thorn which will
not dislodge itself so easily.
Something
needs to be done. So they both decide to settle matters once and for
all, by placing a bet. The first one to get 50000 bucks from a lady
wins. The lady in question is ... A Soap Queen of America. The race is
on. Who will finally win?
Lawrence Jamieson, played by Michael Caine has been brilliantly portrayed. Michael Caine's
acting skills are extraordinary, as is evident in this movie. His
straight faced comedy is as refreshingly hilarious as the serious
performances he had to give during one or two scenes in the movie. The
klutzy but persistent role of Freddy has been played quite nicely by Steve Martin.
I felt his acting was a bit awkward and contrived. But it suited well for the character of Freddy. In fact he fit the role so well, he
almost defined it. After watching the movie, I can't imagine anyone else
playing the same role. Glenne Headly, who played the role of the Soap Queen of America, has also performed well.
The movie captures the beauty of some
idyllic European towns along the Mediterranean coastline, during that
golden age before such beautiful places became expensive,
commercialized, crowded and polluted...
What I liked most about this movie is
that it gave me quite a few good laughs. Its pure unadulterated humorous
good old-fashioned entertainment. A rare gem of a movie that will not
fade with age. Something you can watch and enjoy with your family
without having to worry about adult content. I had a really good time
watching it. But most importantly, it was so good, that I am sure I will
be watching it many more times in the years to come. And I am sure it
will still make me laugh and give me a good time every time I watch it!
My rating: 3.5
8 candidates prepare for the final round of an extremely lucrative job opportunity. The recruitment is supposed to be for a very high post in a very big company. An opportunity worth dying for. An opportunity worth killing for.
The exam hall is a single closed room, with no windows, a single door, a guard besides it, 8 desks and chairs and 8 question papers, one for each candidate. The invigilator sets forth a set of rules: they cannot communicate with the guard or the invigilator at any time. They cannot leave the room for any reason. And they should not spoil their own question paper. There is one question. And one answer is required. The invigilator starts a timer. They have 80 minutes to give the correct answer. Then the invigilator leaves the room. Each candidate opens the question paper. Each of the paper is blank...
So starts the quest for the question. And the correct answer. At first its a very intriguing puzzle. But as the time begins to run out, the pressure increases. Which candidates will snap under pressure? Which ones will manage to find the right answer? What is the right answer? But before that, what is the question? This is what forms the heart of the movie. This is what fuels it, grabs the audience by the collar and hardly ever lets go...
What I liked about this movie was its entirely original premise. The idea is unique. Who would have thought of making a movie based on a recruitment process for a big job opportunity? It thankfully refrains from using the age old spices of love, action, romance, murder, etc. Which makes it a refreshing watch. There is mystery and suspense. Its a puzzler, which reminds me of movies like Cube and Fermat's Room. Just like the Cube, it not only entertains by making the audience use their grey cells as they get absorbed in the puzzle, but also explores the human psyche.
Somewhere in between the movie seems to veer off from the path that one might have expects. For, it starts off as an intriguing and intricate puzzle and then turns into a psychological thriller where it explores the impact of pressure on human psyche. How a situation of stress and pressure can bring out the best or the worst in people. And how some people would go to any lengths when the stakes are high enough for them.
And the climax comes with a twist that you would never have anticipated. Some of the ideas in the movie, like how each of the candidates came to know about the job opening, may sound a bit half-baked. And some of them, for example the explanations at the end, may sound a bit far fetched and fantastic. And yet it manages to keep it all as realistic as possible, refraining from taking unnecessary leaps of fantasy.
The movie is a single room drama, where the entire story takes place within a single room. Which shows the talent of the co-writer and director Stuart Hazeldine, to be able to make the entire story work within such a limited location / set.
The camera work is pretty impressive too. Many aspects of the story are narrated very well by intuitive visuals. It exemplifies the rule that visuals can express better and are more powerful than words.
The acting ranges from very good to mediocre. I especially liked the acting of the candidates who are referred to as "white", and "dark" in the movie.
The characters are neither too shallow, nor too intricately sketched. But each character's personality is portrayed with enough details to fit the requirements of the story.
The movie will not afford you easy entertainment. It will demand your brain power. It will make you think. If you don't mind that, then its certainly worth watching at least once.
My Ratings: 3.5
Shaun is your regular working class type, staying with his annoying and dim-witted friend Ed, and trying to keep things from falling apart with his girlfriend, his job and his mom and step-dad. And failing miserably. His only solace, the regular trips to the local pub Winchester with Ed.
Shaun's buddy, Ed does not wish to grow up. His girlfriend wants Shaun to grow up. His Mom expects him to remember her every now and then. His step-father expects him to do what his mom expects. Being a nobody at the job isn't helping. His world falls apart when his girlfriend splits up with him. But it is not his world alone that's going down the drain... People all around, who had been busy doing their daily chores in a zombie-like fashion, have suddenly started turning into actual ... need I mention the famous Z-word?
To say that Shaun of the Dead is a parody about Zombie movies, would be as accurate as stating a theorem. For it does sum up the movie, but fails to elaborate on its intricate and interesting content. In a funny yet realistic way, the movie, as it starts, portrays the pains of being a nobody in his late twenties. It parodies the daily life of the urban populace where people go around their daily chores in a zombie-like fashion devoid of life or excitement, even before the outbreak.
The unique crisp direction, and the dialogues loaded with satire make this a refreshingly comic romp through the zombie-movie-land. But its not just about the comedy. There are scenes loaded with emotions too - for example, scenes between Shaun and his stepfather, and with his mom, before he has to part ways with them... It displays the acting skills of Simon Pegg, proving that he can be versatile enough to take on serious scenes too.
It is the first movie in the Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, co-written and directed by Edgar Wright and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It is a complete movie in itself and has no relationship whatsoever with the other two movies in the series. The fact that the three movies form a trilogy is probably a joke by the movie makers, in the same way they poke fun at a specific genre through each movie. Though its story is not as intricate as Hot Fuzz, nor is the characterization and scripting as well-crafted as that of The World's End, yet the movie stands out because of the unique directorial skills of Edgar Wright and good script for a parody.
This parody about Zombie movies, does not contribute anything new to the Zombie movie genre, except to add a few laughs and poke fun at the outrageously ridiculous outbreak of the Z-word in movies across the world. There is action and gore aplenty, apocalypse and adventure, and lots and lots of dumb zombies out to get you. But don't watch this one for the Zombie fun. Watch it instead for the rollicking antics of Simon Pegg who plays Shaun, and Nick Frost who plays Ed, both good comic actors.
I had quite a lot of laughs watching this one. Its certainly worth watching at least once...
My ratings: 2.5
No. This is not about the World's End. Or is it?
The World's End is a pub at the end of what the teenagers of Newton Haven call the Golden Mile - a pub crawl that covers 11 other pubs before terminating at this one. On the day of their graduation, Gary King and his 4 buddies decide to "conquer the Golden Mile", drinking a beer in each of the "twelve pubs along a legendary path of alcoholic indulgence"... They never manage to finish it...
That was 20 years back. Flash forward to the present. All the 4 friends are busy and settled down in their respective professions. And Gary King? He is institutionalized. Trying to come to terms with the disappointment and meaninglessness that life has become. But there is the business of the Golden Mile. The crawl they started but never finished. Unfinished business.
So Gary decides to go and finish it once and for all. But of course he cant do it without his 4 buddies. But its "Gary fucking King". The guy who, according to his best pal Andy, can do anything... So Gary visits each one of them. And using his obnoxious charm, manages to convince, persuade and at times emotionally blackmail them to join him in their 20 years old quest.
So the four friends find themselves back in Newton Haven, following the indomitable and insufferable Gary King. And while they are at it, they stumble upon a conspiracy that threatens to change their world...
This is one movie that, for me, defies classification. It is the concluding part of the famous Flavours Cornetto Trilogy (though, it is in no way related to either of the 2 predecessors). But unlike its prequels, it is not really a parody. It is a good comedy. At the same time it is quite an interesting piece of "social science fiction". It boasts some pretty cool action scenes. But best of all, it paints the characters of the 5 friends quite well. The shattered promise of youth, the nostalgic collective memories of a bunch of friends before life separated them, their trip down that memory lane, and their unresolved hopes, conflicts and desires. The movie manages to capture all this very nicely.
The script is well written. Much detailed and well crafted than either of the predecessors. Hats off to the Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. Edgar Wright's direction is, as always, awesome - bearing the unique signature that anyone who has seen the other two movies in the trilogy would quickly recognize.
Simon Pegg plays the role of the cocky, obnoxious and gritty Gary King. That Simon Pegg is a great actor has been evident in the previous two movies from the trilogy. But this one exhibits equally great acting skills by Nick Frost. He plays the role of the adorable but grumpy Andy, Gary's best buddy. The rest of the actors have played their parts well too.
The movie picks up very nicely and never once slows down.
The dialogues are at times funny ("What the fuck is WTF?"), and witty ("He used to ask me what I wanted to do with my life.told him I just wanted to have a good time. He thought that was funny. It wasn't meant to be."), and at times serious enough to the point of being philosophical ("How can you tell when you're drunk if you're never sober"). Sometimes they are a commentary on us humans and our idiosyncrasies ("Your reliance on profanity is a measure of your immaturity as a man and a species.")... That's what I liked a lot about the script... It has a lot of substance to it.
The action is at times intense. As compared to the other two movies in the series, the action sequences in this one are very professionally shot. Many action movies rely on the shaking of the camera to portray intense action. This one avoid the shaky camerawork. Instead it portrays the fight sequences very lucidly and in detail. Its fun to watch, except if you can make yourself digest the fact that all the five protagonists who are bashing up so many people, are supposed to be in their middle ages, with no indication of their acquaintance to martial arts.
Compared to the other two movies in the trilogy, this one has the best climax. The climax of Hot Fuzz was, according to me, a serious botch up. The climax of Shaun of the Dead was simply mediocre. But the climax of this one is well executed. It wraps up the story to a very satisfying and logical conclusion.
The science fiction part of the movie does not necessarily consist of an original premise. But the idea is well executed. The main idea is to make a social commentary on the vagaries of the human race, while proclaiming our right to be free to mess up ourselves the way we please. Which the movie sets forth pretty effectively, using comedy or satire as a medium.
According to me, this one was the best one of the three movies that make up the Flavours Cornetto Trilogy. And its certainly worth a watch at least once.
My ratings: 3.5
