“Little hand says it’s time to rock and roll!”

It’s been a little over a month since my last article, which featured no reviews at all and was in fact really only a response piece to the article written by Max just before. We’ve been extremely busy here at Castle Grey Skullz as the final year of university is soon upon us. We’ve also been doing the odd job for Who’s Jack and you can finally check out some of our stuff at their snazzy new site www.thisisjack.tv. Last I count our page had been viewed 4600 times. I very much appreciate the support, and for those of you who come for the free music but choose to stay we both love you here for it. As you may have heard/seen (hope you liked the poster) we’re incredibly close to finishing Boiling Point to unleash on the world. And I’ll be honest I could not be happier right now, but more on that later. I come back to you again mainly with experience in the form of what we’ve been up to lately.

Before we begin can we just have a moments silence for Patrick Swayze who passed away at age 57 after a pretty goddamn awesome career. Say what you want about Dirty Dancing (1987) and Ghost (1990) but both his turns in Point Break (1991) and Donnie Darko (2001) are fantastic, as are the movies themselves. We’ve lost a lot of good actors and childhood heroes lately and it’s a shame, if inevitable.

“If the sky were to suddenly open up, there would be no law, there would be no rule. There would only be you and your memories. “

So Boiling Point nears its general release (on the internet) and though it’s been a while in real time (about 6 weeks) it’s only been about a week total in production time. It took one night to write (as I had storyboarded it first, sometimes I like to work backwards). It took two long night shoots from around 8pm till 2am (even pushing it to 5am on the final night). And it took less than 3 days to get our movie out of final cut pro. That’s less than a week of production time total, and the film itself cost us less than £100. It’s quite an achievement, hurrah for us!

“Is there a murder in your movie?”

The simple answer to that is no. The idea for the script came from my mother telling me one day when I was sitting staring at the kettle waiting for my fix that “a watched kettle never boils”. Pretty simple really, so when writing I tried to take it a step further, making it about wanting something so badly that’s being denied to you by someone or something. The first draft was pretty boring, so I took in a load of Sam Raimi and David Lynch movies and went back to work. The final result was something with a lot of tension and a very surreal vibe to it. It was only 4 pages long. Suddenly I realised I had something in my lap that could very easily be made to a high standard and very quickly. So I got on the phone to CGM and told him what I thought, and he agreed that we should do it and that we could use his equipment.

“Susie, do you know anything about... witches?”

No, and this movie isn’t about witches either. I suppose if you look deeply it’s about the human psyche and how the mind can play tricks on you. The actual shoot was a brilliant experience.

I had many conversations with Max about how we should approach it. He suggested we use our friend Iain as cameraman. Iain’s one cool customer who’s very relaxed and hilarious, and Max had worked with him before so I figured why not. Now that I’ve had a chance to sit down and watch the footage I’m very impressed with how well he did and he’s a lot of the reason this film looks as good as it does.

I knew who I wanted to act in it pretty much as soon as I wrote it. I might even have offered him the role before I even knew if we were going to make it or not. You’ve heard his music here on CGS under his pseudonyms Confucius MC or CON but his real name is Will. I’d seen a bit of his work before and really wanted to work with him. He was in the pretty awesome student film Max made last year called Compensation (and it’s difficult to make an awesome student film). And wow, this guy knows how to give a good performance. It was so intense. There were maybe 6 people in that kitchen we shot at for most of the time, but you would have only noticed Will. You can even seen from the trailer with the shots of him laughing, and as someone who was sitting right in front of him at the time I really thought his mind had snapped, it was that intense.

The whole shoot was really easy. Our friends Darren and Paddy (also just a few of the residents at the house we were graciously given free rein in) became our production assistants/special effects guru’s/script finder (God bless you Paddy). Believe me, you need production assistants, they make the whole process faster and give you more time to deal with talent or your crew. We had no problems with the lighting or getting the shots we needed. Like I said, two nights and probably the easiest shoot I will ever be allowed to experience.

“Where’s my beaver rape scene?”

No, none of that in there either. And as for Max, well the whole thing wouldn’t have happened without him. He was my Director of Photography on the project as well as my editor. His impeccable sense with lighting helped make my dark and jarring vision a reality and his love of sound editing (which is where the casual editor gives up) bought the tension up 10 fold. Funnily enough, this is the first film we’ve worked on together, and I hope that it’s only the beginning of many.

The editing process was pretty seamless except for a moment when Final Cut Pro decided it would be funny to not start up and make us thing that all hope was lost. I say us, Max was pretty calm and figured out how to fix it, but I went through the whole “Oh my god I’ve lost my movie!” breakdown routine. Everything else was simple.

I had a pretty clear vision when filming that meant we were left with a clear story done from many different angles. That is totally awesome, because you can never have too many angles of the same shot. Of the three tapes we used we managed to tweak out around half an hour’s worth of really good footage, which ended up at about 6 minutes by the time it was all done.

There was very little arguing. We both bounced ideas off each other and knew exactly what we wanted so it all went along quickly. The credits in particular I’m very proud of. You’ll see.

“So anyways...”

You may have noticed that the trailer is very random, and you might find the film to be the same. We’ll have to wait and see. But do know that it was intentional. We wanted something that would get you interested, and I can almost guarantee that the film will leave you with a very similar feeling.

But enough hype, you’ll see the film soon enough, and some even sooner than others. You may remember that I wrote an article about my experience of trying to write a zombie script for the Roehampton Film Societies first full production and how my script was pretty much given up on by everyone at the very early stages. Well I decided to put all that aside and called up the producer of Morning After (Breakfast of the Dead) to see if we could tag along to their premier of the film at our University on the 25^th of September. And against all odds they said yes.

It took me a while to get over the shock of that, I don’t even care if no-one shows up, a piece of my work is going to be shown on a big screen somewhere. That’s enough for me. So the premier is now set for the 25^th, where unless they all of sudden change their mind, you will be able to come to see both Boiling Point and Morning After in succession on a gloriously large screen. The rest of you will have to wait for the 28^th when it will be up on the internet to release to the world (I would say the 26^th but I think Max and I might have to after party till dawn if people like it and will need time to recover). So if you’re on campus on the 25^th at 5pm then please come find us, if not then check us out in full HD glory when we throw it up online.

“Which brings me back to that actually...”

We filmed it all in HD, which means that the majority of it looks fucking beautiful quality. If you’re filming projects then I suggest HD, even if it does use up more space, as it really does make everything go to 11. I also haven’t spoken about my own role as director, mainly as I can’t really give myself constructive criticism yet and I’d much rather hear it from you guys once the movie is up and out there. If any of our friends who run blogs wishes to do a review then I know both Max and I would welcome it, as we’re only interested in getting better.

And this film is better, much better, than anything I have ever done. And I enjoyed every second of it, which you hopefully will also. I’ve already begun working on the script that might be our next project called Spin Cycle which is based on a cool story Max came up with. There’s also talk of dragging Dead Knowledge out its grave (pun intended) and giving that a go as well. It would be so nice to make a sick zombie film. I’m excited about Spin Cycle already, I feel like this piece could be incredibly tense and emotional. I just hope that production (on either of them) goes as smoothly as possible.

And so once again we come to the end. I really hope you like the movie, we worked very hard on it and it’s really worth your time. The more at the premier the better, I say. Please also check us out at JackTV, and anywhere else we pop up from time to time. The more support we have the better we can get so let’s keep on rolling.

So with no further wait

BOILING POINT

Until next time, make mine Marvel!

Hah.

Oh yeah, there’s this mad philosophical dude I’ve been reading a lot of lately. He blogs over at http://drtchockii.blogspot.com/ and it’s all very interesting stuff. Check it out.

“It's just, you know. You're just funny, it's... funny, the way you tell the story and everything.”

Welcome, it’s been a while. We’ve been pretty busy here at CGS working and shooting and writing. I’ve been quite deeply (and unusually) involved in a number of writing projects that I’m hoping to bring to fruition at some point in the near future. I’ve just finished a script for a short film called “Boiling Point” that, if all goes to plan, will be the first ever CGS production. There will be more news on that soon.


note from CGM: This man is still a dick

Max has been holding up the fort with some cracking reviews on some of the summer blockbusters I didn’t get a chance to see. I particularly liked his review of Transformers 2 (2009). HUGE FUCKING ROBOTS indeed. I agree with him about Michael Bay. The man is a god when it comes to action but his understanding of characters and their portrayal leaves much to be desired. His films featuring experienced actors are, in general, quite good.

Bad Boys (1995) and Bad Boys 2 (2003) are the perfect example of this.

Will Smith is, as we should all know by now, a good actor. I won’t hear anything bad said about him unless you’re talking about his music. His acting career has been pretty outstanding. I used to find Fresh Prince hilarious. Sure he does the family movies where some stars would mail it in and collect that dough. But are you really going to try and tell me that Independence Day (1996), Men in Black (1997) and I, Robot (2004) featured an uninterested and bored Smith? No way. And as to whether he can really hold it up on the big screen? I ask you to watch I am Legend (2007) and The Pursuit of Happiness (2006). Neither of them are brilliant movies but both feature big Willy on top form. He’s really the only reason to watch either of them. The man is a star and always seems ready and willing to give it his all.

Martin Lawrence is a star in his own right, just not on the global scale of Will Smith. He doesn’t have the stripes that Will has when it comes to big screen either. Blue Streak (1999) and Life (1999) are the only ones I can think of off the bat that I’d recommend. He is very good at what he does though, and in general that’s to be funny, which makes sense with his background in comedy and stand up. Which is why he was perfect for Bad Boys, you need an angry, neurotic black man you write Lawrence a cheque.

I love both these movies. Smith and Lawrence bring their A game with some brilliant chemistry and some hardcore attitude. Michael Bay really brings it with some of the set pieces. The final fight in the sequel is pretty goddamn explosive. They’re an almost perfect mix of comedy and action that really throws back (though not very far) to the 80’s and Lethal Weapon (1987) with the buddy cop vibe. I’d highly recommend them.



Look at Bays resume and it’s clear that not only has he been incredibly lucky to land a franchise that would make money even if Uwe Boll was in charge, but that he’s also been fortunate to have worked with some experienced actors. With The Rock (1996) he had Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage. Armageddon (1998) placed him with Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton and Steve Buscemi. Both of those movies are really quite good. But as with Bad Boys I just imagine that all of the actors on set just waved Bay off when he came over to do a read through in a kind of “Don’t worry Michael, you go set up the dynamite, we got the script covered!” way.

Now look at some of the other films where he’s had a mostly young cast that might need a little more guidance than some of the more experienced veterans mentioned above. Pearl Harbour (2001) had Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale as the lead roles and that film was pretty lame. The Island (2005) did have a veteran Ewan McGregor as the lead but featured an unusually bland (and still young) Scarlett Johansson. The story wasn’t brilliant but I felt that film in particular would have been a lot better with just a bit more time spent tweaking the performances, especially in a film that leans so heavily on them.

And of course there’s Transformers (2007) and Transformers 2 (2009), the second of which I have yet to see. Trusted sources inform me it’s more of the same (only louder), and to me that’s okay. I understand that this film is about the robots and the explosions with little emotional content. I’m cool with that and it’s probably the reason I hated Terminator IV (2009) because I was promised so much more. My main problem with the Transformers franchise has been the mishandling of the talent. I get that in a film about robots you want to see robots, but adding in that human side and really building on the threat of the Decepticons, not only to the Autobots but to the entire world, would have really taken this film from popcorn movie to something with a little substance.

These are made for a keen fan base that laps it up and are by no means Michael Bay’s best attempts at directing. And once again, with a young cast of Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, the acting is left behind in place of a lot of explosions and shouting.

Megan Fox, as an exact polar opposite of Will Smith; can’t act. I hope that’s something we all agree on. She is pretty hot, and oozes sex appeal but has very little acting ability. She’s little more than a studio construct right now. She’s a guaranteed go to player when it comes to attracting a young horny male audience to the cinema.



Shia on the other hand, is someone who I think will only get better as he gets older and moves on to more interesting projects and characters. He’s already pretty experienced and these Transformer movies could have been a chance for him to really lead a franchise (like Will Smith in Men in Black). But no, again it would seem that Bay had his crew divided into two camps, the actor’s one side and the explosive experts on the other.

Shia’s been excellent in a lot of supporting roles so he’ll bounce back and Megan Fox is guaranteed a career for as long as she’s willing to show some skin. Even though after this franchise, neither of them probably needs to work again but we all love attention so the show will go on.



Bay, will of course, continue making action movies that don’t claim to be anything more than a giant lightshow. Every once in a while a studio will realise he needs a strong cast of actors who know their role and can work individually and hand him a bunch, resulting in a good movie. It is how the industry works and it’s a shame. The man is paid to direct, and it’s like he ignores the system to get to a final product quicker.


“It'll be a cold day in hell when Harry Flugelman lets an actor tell *him* what to do!”



This brings me back to the original reason I sat down and started writing this entry. The other summer movie I had the pleasure of checking in the cinema recently was The Hangover (2009) and it has me internally conflicted. I enjoyed it and thought it was pretty funny. I don’t agree with the unnecessary hype that the film has had handed to it.

It’s not the best comedy of recent times, it’s merely another in a long line of good comedy films to come out this decade. I laughed harder and more frequently while watching both Superbad (2007) and Anchorman (2004) to name a few.

The Hangover is interesting in that most of the stuff that most comedies would kill to show happens before we pick up the story, and what we’re left with is the resulting incidents and confrontations that happen in the day following. That in itself makes it worth watching. It doesn’t follow the usual teen comedy rules of grossing out your audience because it’s not really a teen comedy at all.

This is very clear when you examine the characters. Max is correct; Zach Galifianakis excels in his role of Alan and easily controls the films two or three biggest laughs. Yet I felt the character was out of place in this movie. It’s almost like Alan would have fared better had he been written into Anchorman or a more surreal comedy. He’s a large, bearded, single eccentric man in a film where the other three main characters are family men realising that they aren’t as capable of a heavy night out as they used to be.

I’m a huge fan of Ed Helms and his work as (a different) Andy in The Office television series (US version) and he continues to show his comedic talents here. His character Stu is in a relationship with a completely overbearing and bitchy girlfriend and while he’s away in Vegas he marries a stripper. By the end of the movie he has dumped his girlfriend and organised a date with the stripper so as to ensure a real future with her.

Bradley Cooper is pretty good as Phil, who on first viewing would appear to be the playboy womaniser of the group (he just has that look) is actually the most timid, being involved in hardly any of the really crazy things that happen during the night we only see in pictures and video. The ending also reveals another part of the characters life that had remained unseen that completely changes the way you view his character.

And then there is Dough, played by Justin Bartha, the man getting married and the reason they end up in Vegas.

At the end they all toast to a new future and Alan would appear to be the odd man out. Even the comedy he produces is different. Everyone in this movie relies on realistic reactions to incredible things. Alan as a character speaks at inopportune and awkward times, mostly with one liners or a funny sentence. It’s not really a big deal but I mention it merely as another reason this isn’t perfect.

It’s a funny film. Watch it, as there probably won’t be another film as funny for another year or so but it’s not the best comedy ever.

Anyway, again I digress, as I’m not writing this to trounce all over the fun you could be having with this movie. I’m just bored with this hype train that seems to get everybody on board. It’s insulting my inner artist.


So anyway



I said that I didn’t think it was the funniest movie ever to a friend, to which he replied “what is?” Good question, and one that’s a lot more complicated than it may at first seem. I mean there are comedy movies that carry hardly a giggle, and then there are movies like those that the Coen brothers make that are hilarious in their own right, without every pretending to be a comedy (Check at the bottom for a link). I couldn’t even think of a movie I could rank rightly as the funniest movie I have ever seen because, simply, there’s been a few over the years.

It really depends on what mood I’m in and my taste at the time. Genres have become so muddled and convoluted that no movie is just one genre. Most films have some/all of the clear signs of a comedy smoothly woven into the stories narrative. Like I said earlier, the Bad Boys franchise is an action one, but it’s funny as hell.

As is Miller’s Crossing (1990), the Coen brothers brilliant crime thriller that shines through with some hilarious moments. None of them are the funniest movie ever.

I’m a big Will Ferrell fan and Anchorman was a stroke of genius in my opinion. I know a lot of people don’t like him but I really rate his character acting, and he does his job well. His comedies are always quite highly rated in my books and I absolutely loved Stranger than Fiction (2006), another film that was very funny in its own right. The problem with Ferrell is that I understand his comedy doesn’t appeal to everyone, and because of that I can’t say any of his movies are the funniest of all time.

In the same vein are the Mel Brooks type comedies (of which I’m secretly quite a big fan). I still remember pissing myself the first time I saw Blazing Saddles (1974). That film is really quite brilliant and Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder are hilarious. I like it for its mix of comedy. It has the gross out moments like when everyone is farting around a campfire but then balances that with clever humour, such as when Little as Bart pretends to take himself hostage to get away from a town of white racists at the beginning. Hilarious.

Three Amigos! (1986) is very similar. There are brilliant performances from Steve Martin and Chevy Chase in this tale of mistaken identity. But once again, I just can’t place my reputation on saying these are the funniest films ever.



I guess this just proves we (I say we, I mean I) should think more carefully before I speak. The funniest film ever is a relative thing, and so even if I knew myself I’d still have others to justify it to.

I do know who my favourite comedian is. I’m a big fan of the usual suspects like Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Bill Bailey, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Frankie Boyle and so on. And I mean really, that list could go on forever. There’s few stand up routines I can’t sit through.

My favourite of them all would have to be Dave Chappelle. I don’t know what it is but his comedy just gets me. It’s brilliant on so many levels. His sesame street sketch from Killing ‘em softly (2000) is truly great. The whole of that show is actually. It’s the same with The Chappelle Show which is a bit risky but still features some great material.

And then there’s Half Baked (1998), which is in my opinion as near perfect as you’re going to get from a stoner movie. I’ve seen a lot of them, including the Cheech and Chong films all the way down to the basement stoner films like Evil Bong (2006), and Half Baked is way up there.



So anyways, I’ve rambled without giving you any real reviews. Unfortunate. I’ll ask instead for people to get back to me about their opinion on what is the funniest film ever. I’ll try and keep searching while viewing and see if I can find an answer.

As to reviews, I have nothing really new for you this time, so I’ll point you over to an excellent review of one of my favourite films by a good friend of ours over at sirensoflondon. It’s a really eloquently and well thought out review that makes me a little bit ashamed of when I write entries like this. Check it out and I’ll catch you soon.

Cheerio.

CGJ

“So that's what death tastes like.”

Terminator: Salvation (2009)



I think we can all agree that the original two Terminator films are pretty damn cool. Not the best movies ever created mind you, but fun and original while always breaking borders with their special effects. I’m of the personal opinion that Terminator 2: Judgement Day is the best of the originals. Robert Patrick as the T-1000 is brilliant and even Arnold acts his butt off.

Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines tried too hard in my opinion. The female Terminator wasn’t really that scary and the acting was below par. There was the occasional great set piece (Arnold hanging from a fire trucks ladder as he smashes through buildings) but on the whole there wasn’t enough to interest me.

This brings us to the present, where I was highly anticipating the return of the series. I mean Christian Bale as John Connor fighting Terminators. How can that be bad?

It can. It was. I mean really, really, almost as bad as Terminator 3 bad. I knew within the first 10 minutes this was not for me. It starts off with a pretty pointless scene that completely and utterly spoils the only twist in the film, that being that *SPOILERS* (If you’re an idiot) Marcus Wright is a Terminator. This was also revealed in the trailer, so if you were scratching your head as you watched than that makes you a double idiot (also known as retarded I believe).

After that initial scene plays out the rest of the movie is basically a lot of loud bangs and bright explosions. I mean literally. McG was so the wrong Director for this movie. Best known for his work on the Charlie’s Angels franchise he really struggles here to produce any emotion at all from any of the cast.

Christian Bale mails it in with his grumpiest performance ever. No wonder he lost it with whoever on set, this version of John Connor is probably the moodiest character I’ve seen all year. I also have to say that even though I hate this comparison, he still sounds like he’s in the Batman outfit running around Gotham.

Sam Worthington (as Marcus Wright) was pretty good in my opinion. CGM thought he was plain but I would still say that out of everyone he and Moon Bloodgood were the only two who put in any effort. I also hear that he’s tipped for big things with roles in Avatar and Clash of the Titans coming up. If I’m being nice Anton Yelchin also gives a decent performance.

I’m having trouble remembering any of the action sequences. The giant terminator was cool, as were the bike ones, but the CGI Arnold that showed up at the end was so bad it was cringe worthy. If you can’t get the real dude, don’t CGI him into the movie for fun. It looked shit, was fairly pointless and really took me out the movie so that I could look around with my WTF face on. Too many loud noises with no real point or any real expanding of the Terminator mythology means that this is less about redeeming the franchise with a brilliant movie and more about making money on something that isn’t a remake/re-quel/reboot/a billion other re- words.

I guess I should mention that I know a load of both casual and hardcore film fans who loved it. I’m probably being too harsh when I blame it all on McG. In all honesty though, they did this. They are the people who market and sell the film to the audience. They hyped it up and then didn’t deliver. I guess I’m glad I didn’t have to pay to see it.

To conclude I think it’s safe to say that this is not the movie I was promised. It is a bit of fun but not enough for me to recommend it. Pretty poor effort overall. The worst thing is probably that because Dragonball Evolution and Wolverine were rubbish the general public is likely to overrate this movie as a result.


Miller’s Crossing (1990)



I’m pretty sure somewhere on this blog I’ve mentioned Rian Johnsons awesome Brick (2005). When I originally saw that film about a year after its release I marvelled over how original it was.

For those who don’t know Brick (according to IMDB) follows the story of “a teenage loner as he pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.”

It is very stylish and cool with some magnificent acting placed as the cherry on top. It isn’t however, as original as I had previously thought. You see the other day I broke out a HMV 4-for-£20 deal and picked up Miller’s Crossing which I had long been told was one of the Coen Brothers best films.

It’s actually pretty surprising the amount of things in Brick that I could clearly see had been ripped directly from Miller’s Crossing. I guess I can understand the homage taking place (as with the references to other detective and noir films in the movie) but I did some research and can’t find a comparison between the two films anywhere. Surely I’m not the only one who has seen both movies and now rates Brick slightly less in the originality department?

Alas, I digress. Brick is still one of my films to watch, but Miller’s Crossing figuratively blew my mind. Again we go to IMDB for a plot synopsis;

“Tom Regan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.”

It’s a true homage to a past era, full of deceit and double crossing. This film is a brilliant look at loyalty and character, and man there are some brilliant characters in this movie! I’ll rave about Gabriel Byrne as Tom in a moment but first I need to mention John Turturro. I think this is my favourite role of his. He’s just brilliant as Bernie Bernbaum, a shady character who likes to play people off each other while he hides in the shadows, the man who kicks off the narrative. He’s just so good, not letting off for a second. It’s probably worth watching the film just for him.

To do that though, would be to miss out on a host of great performances. Jon Polito and Albert Finney are both menacing and humorous (something I find the Coen bro’s seem to achieve on a regular basis) as Johnny Caspar and Leo. Steve Buscemi is hilarious for the 5 minutes (or so) of screen time he gets.

J.E Freeman is also excellent as The Dane, who’s an odd character. He doesn’t have any physical defects or anything like that, but as a bad guy you really feel that he could come out on top, and that historically isn’t how you’re meant to feel about the baddie. I enjoyed the movie that little bit more when he’s on screen tormenting our hero Tom Regan.

Speaking of whom, Gabriel Byrne really and truly shines in this role. He’s in pretty much every scene and links together all of the characters and what’s happening where. His Irish accent perfectly fits his quiet stern demeanour. If you thought Joseph Gordon-Levitt was brilliant as the wise cracking Brendan in Brick then you really will love Tom Regan. He’s interesting in the sense that everyone seems to know and trust him, but he knows everyone and trusts no one. He shows mercy and compassion in giving numerous chances to the supporting characters to change their lives but he is also willing to be ruthless when necessary. Make no mistake. Tom plays some of the best mind games while using the fewest words in cinemas history.

Considering this is the Coen Brothers third film, I’m very impressed. It’s incredibly well paced and with some great direction. Having seen both No Country for Old Men, O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? and Fargo I can’t say this is their best film from a cinematography angle. These guys continue to be two of the best film makers out there, and I’m glad they are still going strong (I know this is an old movie). I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and I think anyone with an appreciation of gangsters and wise guys and machine guns and dames etc will love it as well.

It also gets extra credit for an awesome Sam Raimi cameo as a trigger happy gangster. Brilliant.


And for something a little easier to digest...


Sometimes I start writing and don’t realise I’m hitting the thousands in the word count till after I’ve finished. Sometimes I notice and keep on going. I’m feeling nice this week, and realising that we’re all in official holiday mode I know you don’t want to read more essays. Instead I offer a twitter-esque alternative on some of the things I’ve seen lately.

Cursed (2005) – A lot of decent actors/actresses but ultimately a boring attempt at a genre film with barely a scare in it, strange considering it’s a Wes Craven film.

21 (2008) – Fun and sexy “fact based” thriller about counting cards and living the high life. Pretty cool movie, if fairly obvious in its narrative construction.

Coraline (2009) – Surprisingly dark, which makes this surprisingly good.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) – Surprisingly boring, which makes this surprisingly bland. Ryan Reynolds IS Deadpool, I don’t care what you say, but this Deadpool is not the one we know and love. Second worst blockbuster this summer.

Mean Machine (2001) – One of the few films I can honestly say I have rated Vinnie Jones in. Jason Statham even plays someone other than Jason Statham!?!?! Danny Dyer is still a cock though.

The Foot Fist Way (2006) – I’ve already given this a full on review in one of my first few posts at the beginning of the year but I figured I’d mention it again seeing as I saw it last week. Hilarious, watch it.

Lethal Weapon (1987) – This movie and the franchise its spawned is undeniably cool but I couldn’t help but wonder the whole way through if Mel Gibson went crazy before or after this movie.

And so there you have it. An entry that’s less than 2000 words. Hurrah! Well until next time we can be bothered or we get any big news all I’ve left to say is adios.

CGJ