2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Another day, another Kubrick film...
Sound - a stunning mix of a classical soundtrack interspersed with a periods of silence.
Cinematography - beautifully framed with awesome, clean ,clinical space hardware.
Special effects - amazingly shot space scenes and spacecraft.
Acting - no big stars, but fine character actors.
What's it about - well probably the cycle and origin of life, mixed in with what constitutes life? Does that include intelligent computers?
Any disadvantages? - Well it does feel occasionally pretentious, but its pulling power means I'll need to watch it again.
Starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, Leonard Rossiter,William Sylvester and Douglas Rain (as the voice of HAL 9000). 8/10
I saw a bit of that last night on BBC TWO. It looks great in HD as it was shot on 70mm. The cinematography & soundtrack is brilliant. It can be a little slow at times, but like you say it really pulls you in.
Dead Snow(2009)
A pretty decent horror with moments of nicely executed comedy mixed with a bit of gore from director Tommy Wirkola.Seven friends from Norway take a break from their studies and rent a cabin in the mountains where they discover long lost Nazi treasure from the second world war.Soon the students are besieged by murderous Nazi zombies that want their loot back.Its all been done to death but with good performances from the principal cast,you at least care what happens to them and the zombie make-up effects look very impressive also,making it all quite enjoyable.
6/10
Security (2017)
Antonio Banderas plays a down on his luck former special forces captain who takes a job as a nocturnal security guard in a mall. On his first night on the job a young girl bangs on the mall's door screaming for help, she is a witness to a murder who was being taken to court by the FIB when they are ambushed by the killers who are lead by none other than Gandhi ( Ben Kinsley) so Antonio needs his special set of skills to save the day.
The film is a bit of a poor man's die hard but is still enjoyable.
7/10
The Searchers(1956)
The most celebrated of the John Ford Westerns set during the Texas-Native American wars.With John Wayne as Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards,who spends five years trying to find his abducted niece.Masterfully made with a huge lead turn from "The Duke",his character spouts unrepentant racism but the director never condones it,the bigotry is all the man has left after being utterly consumed by bitterness,hate and revenge.He's not meant to be heroic.It stands the test of time as one of the most influential films ever made.
9/10
Europa Report (2013) In some unspecified time in the future, a manned spacecraft makes a journey to Jupiter's moon, Europa. Obviously, not everything goes to plan. This film has some things going for it, imaginatively shot, including split screen and close ups, skillfully moving between time periods, and fine acting. However, the storyline and plot offer nothing particularly original. Starring Sharlto Copley,Michael Nyqvist,Christian Camargo,Embeth Davidtz, Karolina Wydra,Anamaria Marinca, Daniel Wu & Dan Fogler. 6/10
Spider-Man Homecoming
First off I would like to say it's the best Spider-Man film since Spider-Man 2 Directors Cut which I still think is the best film with Homecoming close.
Tom Holland was good he has the right balance of Peter Parker and playing Spider-Man. Robert Downey Jnr was great as always his not in it a lot which great so that it feels like a Spiderman movie. Michael Keaton was great and proves how much of a great actor he is and that his very versatile Really believe him as a villain I still think tho the crown of the best comic villain goes to the joker in the dark knight.
It had a good story partnered with good special effects the film is also peppered with cameos and Easter eggs if you know what to look for and understand.
A few negatives I found Peters best mate a little annoying and Flash Thompson too, also wasn't feeling Aunt Mary, Marisa Tomei is a fantastic actress not only very talented but beautiful I felt they weee trying to sex up the character which you see jokes about that in film also the first 30-40 mins is a bit slow to pick up but after that it's great, so the jokes were a bit much and there things they don't explain. Am not sold on his suit having so much technology in it again you'll see what I mean.
There are two twists in the movie one nasty and you gotta see the scene play out because it's great the look of shock is all I'll say and the other good twist. To be honest the two post credits were particularly great especially the last one so you won't miss much and the finally battle is a bit anti climatic but the very last scene you'll be bursting out laughing as it's really really funny. All in all I highly recommend especially after Amazing Spider-Man 2 massive improvement. For still Wonder Woman but we still have Thor and Justice League to come it's been a great year for super hero movies.
9.2/10
Marooned(1969)
A slow burner from John Sturges following three US astronauts whom become compromised when the main engines on their vessel fail,leaving them stranded in orbit as their oxygen levels dwindle.Great tension with an intense feeling of claustrophobia during the on board sequences and a real human drama to distract from the dated soecial effects.It also boasts good work from an all star cast including Gregory Peck,Gene Hackman,Richard Crenna,James Franciscus,Mariette Hartley and Nancy Kovak in her last film role.
6.5/10
What I forgot to add about Spider-Man is that they don't go on about his origin story which was great as it's been done to death and am shocked one of his key powers was missing.
Silent Screams(2015) A Russian girl(Sasha Kolos) comes over to LA as an exchange student and supernatural occurrences start. A film unremarkably shot on video, patchily acted with a humdrum, overwritten script, a dull plot and the very occasional decent shock. Even a brief cameo by porn legend Ron Jeremy fails to improve matters. Also starring Elya Baskin,Milos Momcilovic(inconsistent acting),Callan Coles,Andrew Scully(annoying), John J Cross(simply a bad actor) and Brando Abro. 3.5/10