J*A*S*M

What?

An entertaining and really well made Australian horror comedy about two brothers who produce organic fertilisers and the three young tourists they want to turn into fertiliser. There’s very little horror (though there’s a lot of carnage), and plenty of jokes. But don’t expect to cry in laughter, this is rather a nice and slightly funny flick with likeable characters. The plot is pretty predictable but still fun. Unlike the similar Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, the premise of 100 Bloody Acres is less original, but I liked this Australian comedy a little more. Strong three stars.

“A family dinner or a funeral… better the funeral, there would at least be one idiot less.” A remarkable Icelandic comedy that fascinated me mainly by how often it managed to surprise me, although after a few minutes I thought that it could no longer do it, that I was ready for everything ... A very likeable and incorrect flick.

Just like Zimmer recycles his music, McQueen here has recycled all of the movies about black slaves that have existed to this day. Honestly, this film has nothing unexpected or otherwise interesting. Ejiofor becomes a slave, is a slave for twelve years and then it’s no longer a slave. The end. I also had some problem with the time frame, it didn’t feel at all like it was twelve years, I actually felt that the story could’ve taken place in four years, or even less. But the execution is very good, without any excessive moralising or pathetic bullshit, so a pretty decent Oscar winner. BTW, the best performance is Fassbender’s, hands down, while Pitt surprisingly manages to annoy even in his short, almost cameo appearance.

Yeah, Boyle and Franco probably did the best they could under the circumstances, but the fears I had before the screening turned out to be true: the premise is good for an autobiography, but not for a feature film. To allow the camera to leave that unfortunate wedged guy at least for a while, the script includes flashbacks and hallucinations that are pretty annoying and pathetic, though I understand the dramatic reasons behind them. But, considering the possibilities the creators had, the film is very brisk and energetic and Boyle again shows his strength: the blend of music and images. The ending (when the “action” is behind) managed to arouse some emotions. However, I still have mixed feelings about 127 Hours and I would love it if next time Danny chose more story-rich material. 7/10

This is really alright. Around the middle of the previous decade, the zombie sub-genre enjoyed a small boom, but things have got quieter in the last few years, with the zombies ending up more in the waters of uninteresting DVDs that rarely produce anything good. 13 Eerie comes from those waters, and I’m really happy that this time I can give thumbs up to a low-key new zombie flick – it’s just a nice little horror movie. The script is, of course, utterly generic, it won’t take your breath away; this one will please only fans of the genre, who will love the nicely atmospheric environment, the dirty feel, the blood, the good gore and, especially, the perfect look of the zombies – this time they aren’t just people splashed with fake blood and faces covered in chalk who don’t look different than your average mortal. No, here they look like beautifully awful, withered and wrinkled monsters dripping black goo. From this point of view it’s great. I also liked the relatively short run and the fact that the film doesn’t suffer from an excessively long and boring beginning.

Maybe I will write a longer review, but only after I recover from this crap. :-(

If it was an original film, I would give it a weak three stars, but it’s a remake of Thai film from eight years ago and I’m not giving it more than two. When the film is true to the original, it’s terribly weak (the intensity of some of the tasks), and the occasional differences go mostly in the wrong direction (for instance, unforgivably leaving out the task with the unpleasant food). The creators try to explain a bit more the background of the “Game”, but unfortunately, they squeeze it into the story in a clumsy way. And then… when it comes to the nonsense, it’s better not to even try to explain it. 13 Sins basically weakens what was good about the original movie and strengthens what was bad. So, a pointless film.

Awfully uninteresting and boring. Where are those days when British horror was a safe bet…

After three hours, I decided I wasn't going to invest another five hours on this. It's a competently put together mystery show, but I am not enjoying it at all. I am not enjoying the characters, I am not enjoying the mystery, I am not enjoying how fucking seriously everything is taken, and I don't give a shit what happens next or how it ends. If it turns out to be something brilliant, let me know, but I won't bother further at this point. And yet, when it comes to the premise, I am the target audience. Oh dear.