More Movies From This Year Reviewed: "Welcome To The Punch" and "The Last Stand"

Welcome to the Punch (2013)

A seemingly pretty well received British crime drama with a whole roster of great actors. I mean just listen to this: Mark Strong, James McAvoy, Angela Riseborough, David Morrissey, Peter Mullan, I was also surprised to find I recognised Johnny Harris (who I think I mainly recognise for his role in the movie "Black Death" as a character known as 'Mold') and he was also pretty damn good here.

That being said, reviewers aren't exactly raving about "Welcome To The Punch". It was in the upper 60s for a while on Rotten Tomatoes and now seems to be down to just 50%. I think it is mainly the acting talent involved that has allowed to it stay as high as that.



We open in the middle of what appears to be some kind of heist with James McAvoy in pursuit. Armed men in suits with briefcases (presumably filled with money) are marching confidently through Canary Wharf to the docks. James McAvoy, a policeman here, is told to wait for backup and not to go in unarmed. He decides not to take this advice.
( Read the rest of the review here... )

The Last Stand (2013)

The lastest Arnold Schwarzenegger movie comes from Kim Jee-Woon, director of the bizarre twisted revenge flick "I Saw The Devil" and the bizarre Korean re-imagining of Clint Eastwood's classic western "The Good, The Bad and The Weird". One issue I sometimes have with east Asian films is the uneven way that they sometimes combine darker elements and comedy elements. Sure, when it's done well it's fantastic and that's surely one of the appeals of anime series. But when it's done badly it can be seriously offputting. Certainly another favourite Korean director, Chan-Wook Park, has some titles such as "Thirst" where the comedy feels rather out of place.

I'm not sure if fans of "I Saw The Devil" noticed the attempts at comedy. But perhaps one of my biggest problems was that I didn't enjoy the joke. "The Good, The Bad and the Weird" has a great deal of very obvious comedy, but it has its dark side too. I just felt that the actors were enjoying themselves rather more than myself in the audience.


( Read the rest of the review here... )

A Horror Movie About Making A Horror Movie. Even Working On The Sound Effects Can Be Terrifying...

Berberian Sound Studio (2012)

Mark Kermode listed this as his joint-favourite movie of 2012 along with "A Royal Affair" (which was my personal favourite of the year at the end of 2012). As is often the way when choosing reviewers, sometimes the most interesting thing about following Mark Kermode's reviews is how much I often disagree with him. He always gives a fresh perspective on things. Also, he used to work for Fangoria and has a strong interest in horror films.

Mark Kermode's favourites of the year have often at least been films that I've liked. His favourites over the past nine years were:
2004 - Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
2005 - A History Of Violence
2006 - Pan's Labyrinth
2007 - The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2008 - Of Time And The City
2009 - Let The Right One In
2010 - Inception
2011 - We Need To Talk About Kevin

Asides from 2007 where I thought his top choice was horrendous ("Assassination of Jesse James" was glacially paced) and 2008 where I've not been inclined to watch the documentary he picked ("Of Time And The City" is a black and white film about changes in Liverpool *yawn*), I've got to admit that all the other choices were great.



So is "Berberian Sound Studio" another great choice or a bit of a dud? Well it's difficult to say. Mark Kermode's co-host Simon Mayo was particularly enthusiastic about "Berberian Sound Studio", not only because of the excellent central performance from the ever-awesome Toby Jones (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Mist, that one episode of Doctor Who...), but also because it is all about sound effects which, as a radio DJ he finds of particulr interest.



The premise is that a sound recording technician is called over to Italy to work on a seemingly somewhat cheesy Giallo movie. We never see any footage from the movie he is working on, but we hear the screams, creepy music and sound effects that are meant to accompany those unseen visuals.



( Read the rest of my review for "Berberian Sound Studio" under the cut... )