REVIEW: MOVIEBLAST: Horns (18) & Maggie (15)

Double review time as we go to MOVIEBLAST and binge watch on streaming site Wuaki with EE Film Club...

HORNS (18) stars Daniel “Harry Potter” Radcliffe as he takes yet another turn from his childhood acting roots to play somewhat of a demon in the horror/thriller Horns. The movie is an interesting one with a scattered narrative and a lot of it you have to try and follow. So what I gathered was this –

 

Ig Perrish (Radcliffe) is in a seemingly perfect relationship with the seemingly perfect Merrin Williams (Juno Temple). When she is found murdered in the woods and the small town mentality is to blame the boyfriend after an argument in a diner, Ig finds himself at the anger of the small town. Defiantly stressing his innocence even his own family do not believe that he is not a murderer. Things change when, inexplicably, he starts to grow horns and things take a turn for the weird. As the horns grow, the people become more strange, it’s up to Ig to prove his innocence and find the killer.

 

This thriller/horror is uniquely original, in parts inspired, but in parts totally out there. Some dark humour underlies the main story which is actually quite shocking. The endgame reveal is a bit of a twist and a bit crazy too. Like The Woman In Black, I was reading in too much Harry Potter references – like when he befriends snakes and wears a yellow hoodie with a maroon top (Gryffindor colours). However, the movie itself isn’t bad and is desperately trying to reinvigorate the horror genre. The narrative, splashed with a lot of flash backs and current time sequences, all jump about making it a bit confusing to follow sometimes.

 

However, overall the movie is one that would be good to watch if you are at a loose end, but I don’t think you could watch it more than once. One cool thing to happen is a small character appearance by the ever gorgeous Heather Graham, but, as usual, is typecast – this time as a slutty, fame hungry waitress. A strong performance by Radcliffe and the cast, Horns is a unique, if weird, take on the horror/thriller genre.

 

Horns is out now on DVD, Blu Ray and all good streaming sites.

 

POPSCORE: 6.5/10

 

MAGGIE (15)  stars Arnold Schwarzenegger in his return to the silver screen (or my console as I streamed this one through Wuaki) in Maggie. Backing up Arnie as the parent of titular character Maggie (played well by Abigail Breslin) is a strong cast with a surprise appearance by Joely Richardson.If I tell you what I would classify as a log line for this movie you would be quite excited.

 

Okay, here goes: When Wade Vogel (Arnie) finds out his daughter has been bitten by a zombie he goes all out to protect her until they can find a cure. Yep, like me, I bet you thought this would be The Terminator: Zombie Edition, but nope, it’s far from it.  The movie is based around a caring father who dotes on his teenage daughter, and when she is infected to become zombiefied, he protects her from going into quarantine and looks after her while she is going through the changing process. The film is a massive departure from the rough and tumble Arnie we know, and is about as curveball as when we found out he was doing Twins with Danny Devito back in the early 90’s. Having said that Arnie does a solid performance as the trouble father while the immediate supporting cast fulfil their roles well. The balance between Wade and his wife – the understanding, sympathetic father and the scared, misunderstanding mother is a delicate balance played well by Richardson and Arnie. Abigail Breslin’s Maggie (of the title) is played well too.

 

There is a lot of quiet or scenes with lack of dialogue in it which create a more pensive tone – and a lot of these scene seem to replace dialogue and if you don’t get it, or miss it, the film seems to jump to continue the narrative. As it’s a bit unconventional this way it seems that the film doesn’t say very much in words but more in pictures – which is good in some respects but, it’s a movie and I’d like a bit more talking as we, the audience, are the ones that have to be quiet. The most annoying thing with it though is that there is an awful lot of what I call “natural camera” (you know the type where it’s like someone holding it and a bit wobbly) which can be distracting at times, especially in important or heartfelt sequences.  It ends up giving the feel that there is literally someone following the characters with a camera – which would be okay if it was one of those found footage type movies, but it clearly isn’t.

 

Overall the movie isn’t fantastic but it shows Arnie has the potential to be a lot more than just an action hero, but now, in his later years, a serious actor too.

 

Maggie is out now on DVD, Blu Ray and all good streaming sites.

 

POPSCORE: 6/10

EVENT: Sheffield Film & Comic Con

On 15^th & 16^th August, Sheffield’s Motorpoint Arena held their Showmasters fronted Film & Comic Con featuring an array of stars from the silver and small screen – and the slight peppering of sports stars. I knew I was in for a good convention when I walked in, saw ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan and said, “Alright” and he replied “Alright” too.

First order of the day was to see the various stalls and sellers which had everything from replica swords to those Funko POP! Vinyls I love so much. There were cosplayers everywhere and some cool photo opportunities.

The celebrities were out in the gangway at various points and the stalls were in the stadium itself. To the back of the room there were photo opportunities with props and to the sides were two discussion areas – one for the cosplayers and one for the celebrities. The first order of the day was a caht with the wrestlers – WWE Hall of Famers “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan took to the stage along with a TNA Tag Team Champion duo to talk about their experiences in the wrestling worlds. DiBiase was very candid about the goings on and said it was a very competitive market and is a very lonely life as you are always on the road. Duggan added that working with an inexperienced wrestler could be very painful. DiBiase said that a lot of the matches are predetermined – but the actual match (although they know the winner) was all improvised as it happened which made it more exciting. The tag team contributed through their eyes of more modern wrestling but it was quite interesting finding out about the classic wrestling I grew up with – and all of them seemed really nice people.

After the Wrestlers Talk the next guy up for a chat was none other than Michael Biehn, who discussed about Aliens, Hicks, Terminator and Kyle Reese. He said that and Aliens sequel had been greenlighted but he has not been asked to reprise his role yet – but he would be up for it if he was asked. He also said that although he hated what happened to his character in the sequels, this new movie will be a sequel to Aliens and will forget the Alien 3 and the really poor Alien Resurrection. Hopefully it will forget the AVP movies too.

I got to meet “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and he was a lovely person and really friendly. We “Hoooooo”’d together and he signed my Wrestlemania Box Set DVD collection. I was tussling with the idea of getting a signed photo, but I have it in my head that I’d like a set of DVD’s signed by different wrestlers. I’m considering doing this with my Star Wars collection too. What do you guys think? Put a comment and let me know.

There was the opportunity to pose with some props and those of you regular readers to my blog will know I had my photo taken with the clockface from Back to the Future when I went to Newcastle Comic Con back in March. Here was even better – you could pose with Doc Brown’s tombstone or sit on the throne from Game Of Thrones. Best of all though – you could get a photo sat in the DeLorean from Back To The Future. I, of course, jumped at the chance and to get a photo for £5 in such an iconic car, it will be a picture I will treasure for a long time to come.

After the Delorean and Duggan I wanted to see Robert Englund, arguable the most popular guy at the event this time. I took a ticket to see him – number 297 no less. Even by 3pm he was nowhere near that. He was spending a lot of time talking to the fans and taking pictures so I never got to meet him – but he will be on my list next time. We did however get to see his talk which involved a skit about Freddy vs Jason and Freddy Vs Chucky (which of course Freddy would win). He was very entertaining and really enjoyed the talk and this rounded off my day.

I had early bird tickets and they cost £15 but you could have got standard ones for a bit cheaper, £8 I think. It was a well organised and enjoyable day with some great celebrities and all of us had fun. Well done Showmasters – I’ll have to come to Sheffield next year.   

EVENT: Newcastle Film & Comic Con 2015

The day is Saturday 28th March 2015

The time... is now!

 

A year ago, the first Newcastle Film and Comic Con ran by experienced Conventionites, Showmasters proved to be very popular indeed. Back then, my friend Mal and I waited nearly four hours to get into the venue and missed most of it. It was badly organised and felt the brunt of an unhappy public. In their defence it was the first one in Newcastle and they underestimated demand - especially those on the door purchases. On the other hand, sales for tickets stopped 2 weeks before so surely they would have had an idea of interest and capacity?

 

Fast forward later in the year when I attended the London & Film Comic Con in July 2015. This was much more organised and, in the main, I got to do what I set out to do - meet the Generalissimo himself, Stan Lee. An added bonus was meeting the legend Glenn Morshower but I was gutted I  missed my favourite cosplayer Ivy Doomkitty.  Such is the draw of these events.

 

The question was - had Showmasters learned their lesson and, more importantly, had we? This time we bought early bird tickets in advance (as opposed to last years buying on the door at the event). This proved beneficial as, when the door was opened, it only took about 20 mins to let us in from our queue position (which was a considerable way around the arena).

Busy day at Newcastle - and that was just the Early Bird tickets!

There were a lot of stars here today, but there were some cancelations - Red Dwarf's Robert Lewellyn and Craig Charles didn't appear as promised and Claudia Christian from Babylon 5 cancelled too. I was sad to find that there was only the sepia Back To The Future pic available at Newcastle (see my effort, right) and no DeLorean as anticipated. I couldn't complain though as KITT from Knightrider was there to waffle on at you.  

 

Eve Myles signs a photo for me

When you go to a convention such as this everyone has their favourite person to see or go for. Each person charges a significant amount for a photo or a signed autograph so even to get a couple of items signed by a few celebrities would cost nearly £100. So unfortunately you have to prioritise (unless you have a lot of money and/or amazing time skills). The most popular person by far today was James Marsters who was charming and lovely apparently. Sadly I didn't get to meet him myself but he was very popular with the public. James Cosmo and Jeremey Bulloch (two people I've met over the last month or so) were also there.

 

My celebrity priorities were two lovely and very beautiful women I got to meet and to see on their relevant panels. The first was Terminator 3's Kristanna Loken. In her panel she discussed the training regime of becoming the Terminator and what it was like working with Arnold Schwarzenegger. She said the role of being in such a successful franchise had changed her life. She also said she was working on some new projects and mentioned some of her recent works. These included a movie called Fighting for Freedom which was a movie made from a screenplay written by her father and the upcoming erotic thriller Maid For You. Later I got a photo with her and got to meet her and she was lovely.

 

 

The second panel I sat in on was absolutely mental and I enjoyed every minute of it! Eve Myles, Gwen from Torchwood (among other shows), came onto the stage and had everyone spellbound from the start. She was taking questions and her familiar, laid back, giggly persona shone through and was both endearing and enchanting at the same time. She spoke of her best friend John Barrowman and the fun they had on set in Torchwood, about how she "didn't" take any props from the set of Torchwood, working with David Tennant and how gorgeous she thought James Marsters is. She spoke of motherhood, of her child and her love of the Geordie accent and had one lad repeating the word "theatre" over again as she loved the pronunciation of the word in that accent. Later, after the rapturous applause, I got to meet her and got a signed photo.

 

While I was there, I mentioned to her the first ever convention I went to. Back in 2012, she was at the SFX Weeekender 3 in Wales. I've been going to conventions ever since then. "It's all your fault I come to these!" I said to her jokingly after explaining about my Wales adventure in 2012. "I get that a lot..." she said, and added, "They kinda addictive aren't they?" And do you know what? She's right.

 

I'm getting quite fond of visiting these conventions and this was much the same of what I'd expect from a Showmasters con. There were a few minor disappointments - the lack of a DeLorean (especially since they are making a fuss of the 30th Anniversary of Back to the Future) and some of the guests pulled out. But these things happen. However there were some great guests today, entertaining panels, excellent cosplay and... we didn't have to wait half a day to get started.

A great comic con going from strength to strength - can't wait for next year.

You can also get your picture taken with some of the stars - here's me with the
very beautiful Kristanna Loken - and you get to take a picture home too.

 

REVIEW: A Walk Among The Tombstones (15)

Liam Neeson returns to the silver screen in his latest action movie role since the airplane based thriller Non-Stop. Liam plays the role of a disillusioned cop called Matt Scudder.  The movie opens in 1991 when he is a heavy drinker – ordering two shots of whiskey to go with a cup of coffee. However, they are not the only two shots he would get on this day. A trio of ragamuffins enter the cafe and start firing and Scudder is in pursuit through the crowded streets of New York and takes out two of them without remorse. He follows another down some steps and shoots him in the leg and, as the credits roll through a fancy camera angle, the film sets us up quite nicely for another action based thriller that we come to know and love from Mr Neeson. Fast forward to the turn of the century in 1999 – where the fear of the y2k “millennium bug” is looming over the world, and to “google” something you would have to sift through a load of microfiches, he is now a private investigator of sorts.  We discover Scudder is no longer a police officer but more of a guy who does favours for favours. As much as this sounds a bit sinister, it generally means he’s a guy for hire if you are in trouble.

Kenny Kristo (Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens) is a drug dealer and has had his wife killed by some unsavoury characters and sends his brother to track down Scudder to see if he can bring them to justice. Initially Scudder refuses, but changes his mind and the movie’s story begins to unravel. Teaming up with a young teen that has all the street talk and computer knowledge, Scudder goes to track down those responsible with a combination of detective work and gun slinging to bring those responsible to justice.

The movie is well made with some good acting and Dan Stevens, who has been an action hero himself in 2014’s The Guest, plays a good role in the movie. TJ, the teenage sidekick played by Brian “Astro” Bradley, is there to add some street cred and become Scudder’s sidekick. I felt like this character was purely added for a few scenes where he is needed to do the modern to Scudder’s old school, but really could have been left out of the film altogether. The villains of the piece, who are so sinister and evil add an underlying menace to the story as you are never quite sure what they will do or are capable of. I was expecting a Taken style shootfest, but the film is more thoughtful than that, piecing together the mystery as Scudder finds out more and more about these evil serial killers.

The movie is a strong thriller and I liked it – but for those expecting a Taken style blast along will be disappointed. Based on the book of the same name, this film is a thoughtful thriller which has enough to keep you watching to the end. It’s a good movie, but not one of the best.

A Walk Among The Tombstones is out now on DVD and Blu Ray from all good retailers. 

 

POPSCORE:          7/10

 

What is it? A Walk Among The Tombstones movie

Where can I find out more? http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/a-walk-among-the-tombstones/

If you liked this try - Taken, Non-Stop, The Equalizer (2014)

 

Anything else?

This film is based on the Matt Scudder book series by Lawrence Block

REVIEW: Kingsman : The Secret Service (15)

In 2015, the day of baddies dressed in garish colours plotting to rule the world has but all been forgotten. It's been a long time since the big bad guy captured the hero, plonked him in a certain death trap that was impossible to escape and then proceeded to tell the hero his intricate world domination plans. It's been a long, long time since the hero conveniently escapes from certain death and foils the megalomaniac bad guy at the last minute.  Here you have the old school spy movie.

Nowadays in the name of Bond and Bourne, they are gritty realistic heroes and fight dirty, drink from the bottle and are injured, scarred and mentally affected - but still get the girl and save the world. Here you have the modern day, nu skool version.

It's a dangerous thing to look back at those old movies and attempt to recreate them because I believe they were a product of the time. This has tried to be done with Mortdecai, the recent release starring Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow, and from what I've heard it didn't work out too well. However, I still have yet to see the movie and refrain from making any judgement of it until I have seen it. The last time it was done well was Mike Myers' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery - and that was a spoof; a parody if you will.

So where does that leave Kingsman? Well they certainly pay homage to the Bond's of old (as well as a number of other spy shows and movies) but put a spin on it to make it very contemporary. Although there are a couple of nods to these movies and films, as they clearly state in the movie - it's not one of those type of movies. 

The movie starts with a fantastic credit sequence which brings us to some dusty desert where Galahad (Colin Firth) is quizzing a terrorist with his elite spy team. One of the team realises that the terrorist has a bomb strapped to his chest and jumps on top of him - shielding the blast from his teammates. Both the spy and terrorist die, but Galahad survives and escapes with his team. Cut to a small boy and his mother and Galahad visiting them. As the film moves on we realise that the spy killed in action is the father of the main character Gary Unwin (Taron Egerton) who's nickname is Eggsy and is referred to as such through the whole film. Galahad hands Eggsy's mother a trinket which she declines and instead gives it to Eggsy. The trinket is a necklace with a phone number on the back. Galahad says he owes the family a favour since his father saved him and the team, and will return the favour.

We find that Galahad is actually a Kingsman - who are all named after the Knights of the Round Table and his real name is Harry Hart. The boss of the Kingsman spies is codenamed Arthur (Michael Caine) and they are elite secret agents who serve and protect Queen and country.

One day, when he is older, Eggsy finds himself heading to prison as his life wasn't going too good. Mum has moved on from Dad and is in an abusive relationship with an alcoholic step father and even worse step brothers.  Then he takes someone elses car for a joyride and is arrested. He phones the number on the necklace he has been wearing for the last few years and gets off scott free. Meanwhile there is a vacancy in the Kingsmen as spy Lancelot was killed by a mysterious lady with blades for feet when he was trying to save a university professor (Star Wars' Mark Hamill) who had been kidnapped.

Cue Galahad appearing to recruit Eggsy for the Kingsman ranks - resplendent in a bulletproof suit, guns, grenades - and an umbrella. Blade lady is working for Richmond Valentine, an evil computer billionaire bent on taking over the world. Samuel L. Jackson makes a welcome appearance as the garishly dressed colour-coded villain who is more a genius than  a soldier.

The movie is well made with a good turn from all the acting talent that has been employed within the movie. Special effects are spot on and the soundtrack and cinematography is great too. Firth is brilliant in the role of the John Steed-esque Galahad and little known actor Egerton plays the chav Eggsy and the Kingsman Eggsy remarkably well - though when he was wearing glasses for some scenes didn't fit quite right with me.

The movie itself moves along at a great pace and is well written. The dialogue is suitably contemporary and there is a notable shift in dialogue from when Eggsy and his contemporaries are talking in their West End council estate to the RP and suaveness of the Kingsman spies.

I really enjoyed this film, as I love my Bond movies, but I think anyone who likes a good action adventure would love this too. The only real issue is that it has an awful lot of swearing in it - it's reflective of real life and gives it that little bit of kudos, but if younger viewers will be watching then it may not be suitable for them - discretion advised.

I recommend to go and see this - it's an old school spy movie with nu skool values and is very entertaining to boot. Kingsman : The Secret Service is out now and is rated 15.

POPSCORE:  8/10

 

 

What am I talking about? Kingsman: The Secret Service movie

How do I find out more? http://www.kingsmanmovie.com/
If you liked this try... Mortdecai (2015), any James Bond movie pre-Daniel Craig, any of the Austin Powers movies, The Avengers (60's TV series but please avoid the 90's movie!)

Anything else?
The song as the credits roll is TAKE THAT - GET READY FOR IT which is out on single now and features on their latest album III. This is their third soundtrack song in recent memory. They also had tracks for two other recent movies - LOVE LOVE for X-Men: First Class and, of course, RULE THE WORLD for Stardust.