Author: Crossfire

www.iloveyouman.com

Judd Apatow is a man who has single handedly defined the bromance genre, although his films generally start out with friends where a main character has a romance developing with a girl. I Love You, Man is a film with a twist, starting out with Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd), a man who has always had girlfriends and no real friends. Until the day he meets Sydney Fife (Jason Segel) and bromance blossoms.

John Hamburg’s change in direction provides a sigh of relief as it shows the beauty of true friendship. Paul Rudd does a good job of carrying the first third of the film. He provides quite a few laughs, as well as awesome cameos from Thomas Lennon, Andy Samberg and Joe Lo Truglio. Its not until Jason Segel enters the picture that the film really picks up, playing a free spirited, rush loving, self made man. He provides the companionship Rudd is yearning for.

Jason Segel is a truly understated comedic actor, and his supporting roles in How I Met Your Mother and Knocked Up have stolen the show. You can’t forget the unmissable Lou Ferrigno; The Incredible Hulk himself is never a sight for sore eyes. Although the basis for the film is relatively original, the plot is pretty standard, man falls in love, and they fall out, and then make up at the end. Even though its friend love, this standard formula has worked countless times in the past, so why not use it again?

I Love You, Man easily fits in with the status quo of pun driven American comedies that are coming out these days. It will never be remembered like Anchorman, or be as highly valued as Superbad, but it is a very funny film and if the recent wave of Hollywood comedies is your thing, then you’ll love it!

Jonathan Teggert

Magnolia Pictures
www.lettherightoneinmovie.com

As you’ve probably already heard, this is not your average ‘vampire’ film. No. It is not. It is however, your average bleak, snow-coated, quiet-but-charming Scandinavian film. This is not really about Vampires as such, but more about the relationship between two pubescent loners.

While there are a number of unsettling bloody moments, they aren’t at all sensational or by any means unnecessary, they merely act of life, showing the almost tragic but touching and weirdly chaste love story.

We follow Oskar; a lonely, quiet boy who lives with his mother. Oskar is like many other adolescent boys his age, concealing a fascination with death and morbidity, up-dating a scrap book containing local news cuttings about bloody crimes. He’s bullied by the boys at school, but only ever reacts when he’s alone, taking his anger out on a tree with his treasured pocket knife. That is until one night he meets his new neighbour, Eli. Eli admits to being a similar age, but seems somewhat wiser, and also always shoeless in the snow.

At first Oskar is wary of Eli, he doesn’t have any friends and finds it hard to understand why she wants to talk to him. Their childlike ways allow for simple and honest conversation which not only add to the quietness of the film but also the charm. As innocent as their conversations are each night, there is also something very unsettling about their relationship. You can feel something predatory about Eli and something prey like in Oskar, but because they’re both quite content in having someone to be near it doesn’t become an issue. When Eli returns from a night of hunting, she crawls into Oskar’s window and lies next to him while he sleeps, her face covered in drying blood, his clean and pale.

The snow covered streets and the pale winter light really emphasize the bleak backdrop of the story, especially against the sudden contrast of blood, splattered or draining from a hanging carcass. The colour is so desaturated and muted that when we see the red of the fresh blood it’s almost warm and welcoming – seductive even.

The final few scenes leave a bittersweet taste in your mouth; I can’t decide if it’s really necessary or was only put in as a final act of violent but romantic revenge. But the image of the massacred children around the quiet pool is quite disturbing. In all the film is a perfect combination of young love, nativity and fear. It’s a warped, unsettling fairy tale that stays with you for quite a long time, it also shows some hope that there are some people who can still make original and brilliant films.

Emily Paget

20th Century Fox
www.mirrorsmovie.com

How many times a day do you check your reflection, in a mirror, a shop window or a car. A mirror is the door to the soul and cannot lie. It shows us the truth, even if we don’t want to see it. But can some mirrors hold onto things we cannot see?

Like many other films before it, the Grudge, the Ring, the Eye and Dark Water, Mirrors has been transformed from an East Asian movie into a creepy Americanised thriller staring 24’s Kiefer Sutherland. Sutherland plays Ben Carson, a police detective taking a break from the force to deal with an alcohol problem. He is separated from his wife and children, living with his sister and takes a night security job patrolling a burnt out shopping mall. While patrolling one night he begins to get disturbed by the mirrors that thrive inside. He begins to hear noises and see things in the mirrors that are not present on his side but can be seen in the mirrors reflection; distorted faces, people with severe burns and hand prints of which he cannot account for. Ben goes on a mission to find out what is going on inside the mirrors, resulting in the death of someone close to him.

There is suspense from the start and the mind automatically gets puzzled and tries to place together how one man and his reflection can do two separate things, both resulting in some gruesome images. The movie continues on a path of mystery, getting the mind working in over time as much as Sutherlands character’s on screen. The surprise and unexpected ending is probably the most enjoyable part of the film and supplies some of the movies more gruesome images. Throughout the film there are sights of a frightful nature. From the first to the last killing these visions are on the same wavelength as Saw, with body parts being ripped from one end to the other. The most horrific image is when the creature creating the visions in the mirror gets its intended victim and takes over their body. The way it comes to be is unpredictable and takes you off guard with its presence and distorted and horrifying human form.

The only disappointment I had regarding Mirrors was the segment in which the mirrors explode. I felt this to be a vital part of the conclusion yet not as impressive as it could have been. We see the pieces of the mirrors fall to the ground shattering yet I was let unfulfilled and rather let down regarding the reaction it created. I wanted a little more shock and astonishment, the same reaction caused as the creature approaches, but no such luck.

With its thoughtful plot line to get the brain flickering in and out of consciousness, grasping events that add a little more to the mirror mystery and the creature presence to take you by surprise, don’t expect all happy endings, butterflies and roses come the last scene, wait for a twist in fate you will never see coming. Mirrors is a great film and has a bundle of special features on the DVD including looking into making the film come to life with sets and Sutherlands input as well as much more. Definitely a must see for fans of murder mysteries and plot twists.

Michelle Moore

Revolver entertainment
www.cityratsthemovie.com

City Rats portrays city life in London, as you have never seen it before. The film takes on four narrative strings, looking at eight different characters and examining some very delicate subject matter. At first there is Pete (Danny Dyer), an ex-criminal drunken mess that goes on a journey of truth with Carol (Natasha Williams), a woman on the edge and the mother of an old friend of Pete’s who has disappeared. Together the look for the truth into the lad’s disappearance with to some devastating results.

Then there is Gina, a.k.a Penelope (Susan Lynch), a prostate who has a relationship with her artist neighbour Dean (Ray Panthaki) who asks her to be his muse, his inspiration in his art and poetry. Next we have Olly (Kenny Doughty) and his deaf autistic brother Chris (James Lance) who use the London night scene to develop and explore their sexualities. Lastly is Jim (Tamer Hassan) and Sammy (MyAnna Buring) both lost in life and link eyes across London’s rooftops when they debate over whether to jump; they look to each other as saviours. As you begin to piece the story into the four separate narratives, you find there is actually some crossovers; Jim is a client of Penelope’s, Dean and Olly went to school together and Pete is somehow involved in Olly and Chris’s family.

Once laid out straight in ones mind, you begin to realise how each story touches upon the London scene. There is some of the most beautiful of landscapes from London rooftops, especially in the opening scene involving the Millennium Bridge and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Other scenes look at the dark side of London, such as the back streets, Soho and the clubbing scene. The way each of the scenes is filmed is remarkable. There are also some scenes, particularly the sequence of melons falling from the rooftops and Chris at Trafalgar Square with the pigeons that are memorable. City Rats deals with some delicate topics but does so carefully and creatively. It touches upon murder, drugs, suicide, disabilities, domestic violence, prostitution and homosexuality.

If you are looking for a film that is honest to its form then City Rats is it. Each word spoken is honest and the DVD features portray the cast in a similar fashion. If you are going to make a British film that portrays the London scene then you can’t get any better than having Danny Dyer; he is a true actor with all the Brit aspect you want and for his presence makes this an enjoyable watch.

Michelle Moore

Universal
www.frostnixon.net

I am an avid viewer of horror and actions films. Rarely do I get grasped into historical dramas as not only are the majority dull and boring, but events depicted in many of them, such as this one, occurred before I was even born and therefore I lack the experience and understanding of the time and the events.

Based on the play by Peter Morgan, which dramatised the interviews of 1977 between journalist David Frost and President Nixon, Frost/Nixon, reunites its original two stars from the West End and Broadway productions of the play, Michael Sheen as David Frost and Frank Langella as former President Nixon. When a series of reports documenting on the Watergate scandal, one of many illegal incidents authorised and carried out by Nixon’s staff, are released to the press, the president has no choice but to resign. This resignation leads to an interview with David Frost, a TV host with his mind determined to interview the president regarding these events in several TV specials. The conclusion that comes from their interview time together is a make or break for each individual; either Frost gets a confession from Nixon regarding his involvement and becomes a huge name in the pubic eye, or Nixon puts his point across so well that all is forgiven and Frost goes back to being another TV host.

When viewing the interview technique between Frost and Nixon, it goes to show just how much a journalist must prepare for such an event. At the start Frost just sets his sights on “a big interview” but realises there is more at stake than just his career. It is his job as a journalist to get the truth out of a man who had the trust of a nation on his side and let them down with his irresponsible ways of thinking, acting and decision-making. His development and devotion to finding the truth, a confession, grows as he gets thinker into the questions.

To be perfectly honest I had no history of the events represented in this film. I knew the presidents name, but that was basically it. It was through the remarks I had heard from others that made me want to give the film a shot and I am thankful I did. For someone like myself that wasn’t around when the events actually occurred, I think depicting them in a method suited to the era is important so that we have some basic knowledge of such a milestone in American history. Frost/Nixon is not going to become one of those films you won’t adore and watch for the pleasure of it repeatedly. But, if you are looking to gain knowledge of American history and watch something that was of great importance some time back then Frost/Nixon is likely a great candidate. If you are looking for entertainment and excitement though, then better look elsewhere.

Watch the trailer here.

Michelle Moore

Sony Pictures
Website

The Grudge was an amazing film and a phenomenal success. It was a freakishly brilliant horror rendition of the Japanese film about a woman with a curse born when someone dies though powerful rage or extreme sorrow. To see her creeping around the house, her long hair or the very pale small child was enough for some of us to check the bottom of the bed before getting in at night. Part two in the trilogy sees the curse move from Tokyo to America was a less impressive impression but nevertheless still gory enough for a few scares and moments to cover your eyes at. The concluding chapter in the trilogy, Grudge 3, just seems out of pace with the others.

It begins by exploring the originals of the female vengeful entity and her son, recapturing the reasons as to why they are there in the beginning; they were murdered. As the tale continues it looks to why the female character became a twisted woman and didn’t just move to the spirit side and how she can be stopped before she kills any more people.

There is nothing inspiring, nothing dreadfully terrorising or gruesome in this film. It just feels as though the makers have jumped onto the back of a good thing but have consequently bought the trilogy to a disappointing demise. At the start I was left with curiosity, who is this Japanese woman and how is she involved in the storyline but this is quickly established. This is followed by a few moments that make you jump but other than that I was left disappointed. The death sequences are not frightful or shocking just slightly gory; a boy ripped to shreds, snapped necks and a few stabbings to name but very few. The plot line becomes predictable and not amusing. To see a small boy as white as a sheet and talk to him rather than being scared is ridiculous as is a woman falling over rather than running, which along with the death of a lover is predictable and can be seen coming a mile away.

If you are intending to make the last film in a trilogy you need to be able to shock viewers in ways they have never seen before. You need to be able to twist the plot to a point viewers are left with their mouths open wide and stunned. Scream was the perfect conclusion to the trilogy as it incorporated elements present in the first film and even before and twisted them. Unless you can create something outrageous and something viewers will never see coming, you have no chance of the film being a hit. Grudge 3 attempts to take us back to the beginning and how Kayako became such a violent entity, but it just doesn’t click or entertain to a degree. This film is certainly not going to be the best horror film released to DVD in the next few months.

Michelle Moore