Review: The Wolfman
The Wolfman
Inspired by the classic Universal film that launched a legacy of horror, The Wolfman brings the myth of a cursed man back to its iconic origins. Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro stars as Lawrence Talbot, a haunted nobleman lured back to his family estate after his brother vanishes. Reunited with his estranged father (Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins), Talbot sets out to find his brother… and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself.
I had high expectations before going to see The Wolfman, firstly because of the Oscar winning cast and secondly because of the visually luxurious trailer.
On these two counts the film delivers. The cinematography is outstanding, the mist shrouded woods, the chilling Talbot Manor and the grimy streets of London all transport you into the menacing world of Victorian England with a werewolf on the loose. The transformed Benicio Del Toro does bear a likeness to the original 1941 Wolfman which gives him that classic horror feel, although at some points he also reminded me of a certain small furry character from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi… which is not so scary…
The acting is solid as expected but it was a shame that the script lacked the depth for you to really get involved with the characters, especially Blunt, whom I felt had lost out a bit with the seemingly nonchalant Gwen Conliffe. Hugo Weaving is an excellent addition to the story and is utterly brilliant as Abberline.
Overall though, I found the film a bit all over the place, speeding through parts of the story that need a bit more explanation and unity. I wasn’t moved or petrified. However, the blood curdling howls and scattered body parts, essential to any werewolf movie, coupled with the overall ambiance was enough to keep me happy.
6/10
Competition: Win Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs on DVD
Win Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs on DVD
We’ve got another competition for you, this time to win Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs on DVD!
Plot Synopsis:
When Flint Lockwood’s (Bill Hader) latest contraption accidentally destroys the town square and rockets up into the clouds, he thinks his inventing career is over. Then, something amazing happens as delicious cheeseburgers start raining from the sky. His machine actually works! But when people greedily ask for more and more food, the machine starts to run amok, unleashing spaghetti tornadoes and giant meatballs that threaten the world! Now it’s up to Flint with the help of weather girl Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) and Steve, his talking monkey assistant, to find some way to shut down the machine before the world is covered in super-sized meatballs!
Click here to read our full review.
The Competition
There are 2 ways you can enter:
1. Enter Via Twitter
Competition now closed.
2. Enter Via The Site
Who provides the voice for the town’s cop, Earl Devereaux?
Competition now closed. The answer was Mr T.
You can enter via both twitter and the site, and double your chances!
The competition closes on 5th Feb 2010 and is open to UK residents aged 18 or over. There will be 1 winner picked from twitter and the on site entries (enter via both and double your chances!). By entering this competition, you are agreeing to the rules of this competition. Full rules can be read here.
TONY: LONDON SERIAL KILLER. Meet the director and lead!
TONY: LONDON SERIAL KILLER
For those of you out there that like a good serial killer movie, and want to support UK films, there’s a special preview screening of TONY, with director Gerard Johnson and lead actor Peter Ferdinando!
Screening is tomorrow at:
Empire Cinema, Leicester Square
Screen 1, 11:30pm
Friday January 29th
The impressive debut from Gerard Johnson, TONY has already drawn comparisons to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and Taxi Driver and is one of the most original and disturbing British films of recent years.
Unemployed and unemployable, Tony is an alienated psychopath with severe social problems, an obsession for action films and a horrible moustache. His life is interrupted only by his nervous attempts to make friends, which are invariably rebuffed by laughter or contempt. Occasionally he snaps, and violence is the result…
Featuring a star-making lead performance from Peter Ferdinando, Tony is dark, brutal, yet bleakly amusing and will stay with you long after you finish watching.
TONY is in cinemas (as well as Sky Box Office, iTunes, LOVEFiLM and FILMFLEX) 5th February, and on DVD 8th February.
Review: Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
How to describe Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs…
Weird. Wonderful. And covered in ice cream!
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the latest animated feature from Sony, and is based on the 1978 children’s book by Judi and Ron Barrett. The movie follows the life of Flint Lockwood, genius (if rather accident prone) inventor, who lives on a tiny island in the Atlantic, and who’s main source of food is sardines.
Sick of the all fish diet, Flint’s invents a gadget is designed to make food out of water. After his first attempt fails, he takes the ‘logical step’ that it just needs more power… Hooking it up to the main power station, it shoots the machine up into the clouds only for it start to rain food, turning Flint into a celebrity and giving him the recognition he’s always wanted… That is until things start to go awry…
Rather than go for A list celebrity cameos directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller went for talent that just really suited the characters. Lockwood, voiced by Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live) has a great childlike enthusiasm, and Anna Faris (Scary Movie 1, 2 and 3) matches him voicing intern weather reporter & love interest Sam Sparks. James Caan turns in a great understated vocal as Flint’s long suffering father, and the legendary Bruce Campell provides the voice for the greedy mayor. The show stealing performance though comes from Mr. T. as the tough (but ultimately good hearted) small town cop Earl Devereaux.
Cloudy might not be right up there with the WALL-Es and UPs of computer-animated movies, but the animation is perfectly fine, and has an entertaining plot that moves along a great pace. It’s a charming, funny and brilliantly surreal tale that both kids and parents will love.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is released on DVD and Blu-Ray, Monday 25th Jan 2010.
8/10
GeekTown’s Top 5 Sci-Fi Movies Of 2009
2009 was a pretty good year for the sci-fi film. Not only did it produce the movie that’s well on the way to becoming the highest grossing movie of all time, but also some great little sci-fi gems that you may have overlooked. So heres GeekTown’s top 5 list of sci-fi movies from the last 12 months:
GeekTown’s Top 5 Sci-Fi Movies Of 2009
Watchmen
5. Watchmen
Watchmen got a fairly mixed reception on release. Yes, it did lose some of the weight of the Moore/Gibbons source material, but considering the number of people that had said it was ‘unfilmable’, and the directors that had been attached to the project and given up, I think Zack Snyder did an decent job with it. Maybe it wasn’t a unique as the comic book fans wanted, but Zack still made a very complex graphic novel into a perfectly fine, engaging superhero movie.
Avatar
4. Avatar
Currently on it’s way to sinking Titanic as the highest grossing movie of all time, James Cameron proves once again with Avatar that he doesn’t know how to make a non-smash hit movie. The lush visual world Cameron creates on Pandora, and the groundbreaking CGI work used to create the Na’vi set a new benchmark for special effects in film.
For our full review of Avatar and the Avatar premiere, click here.
3. Moon
Moon
Moon is probably the least well know of the films in this list, but is well worth seeking out on DVD/Blu-ray if you haven’t seen it yet. Duncan Jones makes a stunning directorial debut, in a clever film that has far more in common with the distopian sci-fis of the early 70s rather than your Avatar style blockbuster. The film is practically a one man show for the lead Sam Rockwell, who turns in a performance that (if there’s any justice) really should gain him an Oscar nomination.
Created for the tiny sum (in filmic terms) of $5 million, Moon proves you don’t need a massive Hollywood budget to create impressive, intelligent sci-fi.
For our full review of Moon click here.
2. District 9
District 9
District 9 was another of those films that crept up through the summers massive blockbusters of giant robots and pointy clawed mutants to slap them around the face and show you didn’t need a massive budget to make great sci-fi. Shot for a modest $30 million, Neill Blomkamp made a stunning feature length debut by adapting one of his earlier film shorts, Alive in Joburg, to create District 9. Taking on the themes of apartheid and translating them into a sci-fi setting Blomkamp creates a wonderfully intellegent and brilliantly original movie. The film is also a feature debut for lead Sharlto Copley (soon to be seen as ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock in the A Team movie), who manages the difficult job of taking his character Wikus van der Merwe, who really shouldn’t be all that like-able, and make you feel sympathy for him.
1. Star Trek
Star Trek
Like a lot of Trek fans, when it was announced that they were planning on rebooting Star Trek, a shiver ran up my spine… You can’t recast Kirk! You can’t recast Spock!.. Well, turns out you can. And very successfully too! JJ Abrams managed the seemingly impossible task of updating Trek without annoying Trekkers/Trekkies, and still bringing non-Trek movie goers to the franchise. By the simple but ingenious idea of creating an alternate timeline, thereby leaving the original universe intact, every body’s happy, and JJ has a whole new Star Trek universe to do whatever he likes with.
Zachary Quinto turns in a performance of Spock that nearly ‘out Spocks’ Leonard Nimoy (who also appears as ‘Spock Prime’). Chris Pine manages to still convey a very Kirk-like attitude, but without trying to imitate the unique Mr. Shatner. A mention also needs to go to Karl Urban’s brilliant portrayal of Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy which at times felt like he was actually channeling DeForest Kelley.
JJ Abrams achieved the seemingly unachievable in reinvigorating the Star Trek franchise without alienating existing fans and stomping over it’s rich lineage, and for that, we say ‘Live Long and Prosper’.
Click here to read our full review of Star Trek, and here for our coverage of the Star Trek premiere.
Live streaming footage from the World Premiere of Sherlock Holmes!
Our live streaming of what went on at Leicester Square outside the World Premiere of Sherlock Holmes last night has now finished, however we do have this nice little highlight video.
There’s also a free-to-play online game based on the movie availible to play at http://www.221b.sh
Sherlock Holmes World Premiere!
